Influences on social work identities:

1. Influences on social work identities: Has the social work degree influenced student motivations to become social workers?

2. Introduction • Motivations • Policy background • The Social Work Degree Evaluation • Students’ motivations to become social workers • Implications for social work education and practice

3. Why are motivations important? • An influence on the quality and nature of the profession • Informing recruitment strategies and supporting Newly Qualified Social Workers • Balancing and interacting with other factors in deciding to become social workers • Availability of places • Image of social work (gendered?) • Level of support for the profession

4. Motivations to study • Intrinsic and extrinsic – (self determination theory) • Interest in a subject • Intrinsic nature of the subject • Extrinsic rewards of learning – Academic success, careers or increase in knowledge (Breen and Lindsay, 2002) • Personal, professional or political motivations to do social work? • Trends towards individualistic altruism motivations for social work over 30 years • Different kinds of motivation can co exist • A ‘meaningful career’ which also contributes to ‘society’s wellbeing’ (Marsh and Triseliotis, 1996: 28)

5. Policy background • Government plans for modernisation of public services • Changes in social care • New degree level qualification in social work introduced in 2003 • Changes to post qualifying education • Increased regulation of social work

6. Social Work Degree Evaluation Five rounds of survey data = 2933 responses 13 motivations items, developed after discussion groups and from literature Students asked to select all and then their most important Case studies 6 sites – data collected first and final year Focus groups with students Interviews with staff Vignettes with students Practice Assessors survey Re analysis of GSCC data

7. Most common ‘selected’ motivations • Helping individuals to improve the quality of their own lives (86% - 91%) • Interesting, stimulating work (73% - 74%) • Personal ability to get on with people (71% - 74%) • Wish to tackle injustice and inequalities in society (68% - 73%) • Variety of work day-to-day (66%-69%) • Good career prospects (50%-67%)

8. Underlying motivational factors (PCA)

9. Student’s characterisations Altruistic To me, the most overriding factor of people that need social services are, in fact, that they’re extremely poor. And my motivation is just to try and help someone achieve something that they want. And I think I’ll have done something if I can achieve that. Career I mean I have worked with homeless people and you know, I just thought it would be a good thing to do really, to get a qualification that would open up all the doors to me. So just working as a worker, rather than not having that qualification, I mean, it sounds really sort of awful, but I want a profession. Day to day nature of social work ...And I liked the idea of being able to work with so many different types of people, in so many different settings, like the kind of flexibility and no day being the same. Not having to be behind a desk all the time.

10. Most important underlying motivational factors

11. Complexity of underlying motivational factors

12. Stability of underlying motivational factors

13. Student characteristics:Career • Black students (not including Asian or ‘other’ ethnicities) more likely than with white • Men were slightly more likely compared with women • Students with previous voluntary work experience slightly less likely compared with those having paid experience with a social work employer

14. Student characteristics:Altruistic or personal qualities • Students in the three older age groups were generally more likely compared with younger students • Students with experience of paid or voluntary work in a related field were a little more likely compared with students having experience of paid work with a social work employer.

15. Student characteristics:Day to day nature of social work • Youngest students were generally more likely  compared with older age groups • Postgraduate students more likely compared with undergraduates • Students having experience of paid work with a social work employer more likely compared with students with experience of paid work in a related field.

16. Conclusion • Continuity with previous studies of Social work students’ motivations, • Complex mix of career or work based motivations, and individualistic altruism, which remained dominant • Personal history reflects good and bad social work • Personal work history – students with experience of working for a social work employer more focused on becoming a professional? • Social work seen as less racist, attracting black males? • Paying close attention to students’ motivations and previous experiences can help: • Planning curricula, selecting and supporting students • Support NQSWs to transition to workplace reality

17. Research Team