Webinar: CSWE's Macro Social Work Practice Curricular Guide

The Council for Social Work Education (CSWE) presented a webinar on its publication, Specialized Practice Curricular Guide for Macro Social Work Practice (2015). The 300-page guide book categories macro social work under three primary focus areas: organizational administration; community organizing, and policy practice. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the nine professional competencies for macro social work practice.Each competency contains vignettes, case studies, classroom exercises, and additional resources for social work professors. The final section presents guidelines and frameworks for macro practice field education. The nine professional competencies for macro social work practice include the following:

1. Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior
2. Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice
3. Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice
4. Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice
5. Engage in Policy Practice
6. Engagement with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
7. Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
8. Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
9. Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

 
This guide book is part of CSWE's Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Printed copies are available for purchase at info [at] cswe.org. The webinar recording (September 4, 2019) can be viewed here.

The Atlantic: The Disciplines Where No Black People Earn Ph.D.s

The Atlantic published a piece about the obstacles in enrolling in doctoral programs in the U.S. The more prestigious Ph.D. programs have more funding, resources, and greater likelihood placing graduates into tenure-track faculty positions. But black doctoral students are few in number. The reason why students from underrepresented backgrounds--black applicants in particular--face obstacles in Ph.D. admission has to do with having the right research topic to having the right social connections.

Before experience becomes a material issue, though, a student must first get into a doctoral program, which can be a chore all its own. It is typically up to departmental faculty to decide who does and who does not get into a Ph.D. program, and “there can be a lot of politics in play that keep black students from being admitted,” Commodore told me. There could be a lack of enthusiasm about an applicant’s topic or research interest, or some students might not come with the same social capital—recommendations from noted or well-connected faculty in the field—that others might.

Once they are admitted into a Ph.D. program, black students are more likely to borrow to finance their graduate education:

Then, after they are admitted, there is the question of cost. Black college students borrow at higher rates than any other racial group, and they are more likely to default on those student loans. “Imagine coming out of school with a bachelor’s degree, with such a debt burden,” Lorelle Espinosa, vice president for research at the American Council on Education (ACE), told me. “Students are thinking, I don’t have a safety net for this debt. Am I really up for going for an advanced degree where I’ll find myself in even more debt?”

In 2017, there were more than a dozen fields in which not a single doctoral degree was awarded to a black person anywhere in the United States. If Ph.D. programs are not admitting black applicants and those who are lucky to attend must borrow to survive, this trend could have repercussions for the future of black faculty in higher education. When minority students are demanding higher education institutions to hire more faculty who share similar cultural experiences, Ph.D. programs are not admitting enough black applicants. This is a lost opportunity for research on issues that could inform and improve the well-being of black communities.

Review: Toxic Inequality (2017)

Toxic Inequality: How America’s Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the Racial Divide, and Threatens Our Future (2017), by Thomas Shapiro, is a professor at the Heller School for Social Policy and the Director of the Institute on Assets and Social Policy Brandeis University. He is the leading figure on racial inequality and public policy.

From the book cover:

Since the Great Recession, most Americans' standard of living has stagnated or declined. Economic inequality is at historic highs. But inequality's impact differs by race; African Americans' net wealth is just a tenth that of white Americans, and over recent decades, white families have accumulated wealth at three times the rate of black families. In our increasingly diverse nation, sociologist Thomas M. Shapiro argues, wealth disparities must be understood in tandem with racial inequities--a dangerous combination he terms "toxic inequality."

In Toxic Inequality, Shapiro reveals how these forces combine to trap families in place. Following nearly two hundred families of different races and income levels over a period of twelve years, Shapiro's research vividly documents the recession's toll on parents and children, the ways families use assets to manage crises and create opportunities, and the real reasons some families build wealth while others struggle in poverty. The structure of our neighborhoods, workplaces, and tax code-much more than individual choices-push some forward and hold others back. A lack of assets, far more common in families of color, can often ruin parents' careful plans for themselves and their children.

i an a fan of Shapiro's work, which has generated much discussion on the widening racial wealth gap and economic inequality in the U.S. He uses a sociological lens to examine how years of homeownership, household income, and unemployment created racial disparities in wealth between white families and black families. Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited housing discrimination on the basis of race, it has not stopped the practice of redlining. Black neighborhoods tend to have lower home equities than white neighborhoods which has huge implications on intergenerational wealth. Black families also tend to live in neighborhoods with higher proportion of blacks (or adjacent to working-class neighborhoods) than white families. For the past fifty years, black families have been playing catch-up to white families but neoliberal policies and the Great Recession eliminated much of black wealth. Overall, I highly recommend the book because it is easy to understand for the general audience to see that black families are NOT on an equal playing field with white families when it comes to wealth accumulation.

I would even further argue that this data supports why affirmative action is still necessary in elite college admissions. With fewer assets, black families are less likely to afford test preparation programs that can boost their child's scores on the SAT (which is poor predictor of college success) and must rely on student loans to finance their children's college educations. As the recent college admissions cheating scandal revealed, these racial inequities create an unfair advantage to already privileged students who do not have to financially struggle to gain admission into elite colleges and universities.

If you have not read Thomas Shapiro's previous books, I highly recommend his other phenomenal books, Black Wealth/White Wealth (2006) and The Hidden Cost of Being African Americans (2005).

Review: The Gilded Years (2016)

The Gilded Years (2016), by Karin Tanabe, is a historical fiction novel. It is based on the true story of Anita Florence Hemmings, the first African American woman to attend Vassar College, a prestigious women's college, in the 1890s. As the descendants of slaves, Hemmings passed as white so that she could enter Vassar and finds herself in the elite world of aristocrats and capitalists. She is treated as an wealthy, highly-educated white woman until she got attached to the wrong person--who could unravel everything she risked to accomplish for a better life. Passing meets House of Mirth in this best-selling historical novel on how race, gender and class intersected to influence social mobility and access to higher education during America's Gilded Age.

From the book cover:

Since childhood, Anita Hemmings has longed to attend the country’s most exclusive school for women, Vassar College. Now, a bright, beautiful senior in the class of 1897, she is hiding a secret that would have banned her from admission: Anita is the only African-American student ever to attend Vassar. With her olive complexion and dark hair, this daughter of a janitor and descendant of slaves has successfully passed as white, but now finds herself rooming with Louise “Lottie” Taylor, the scion of one of New York’s most prominent families.

Though Anita has kept herself at a distance from her classmates, Lottie’s sphere of influence is inescapable, her energy irresistible, and the two become fast friends. Pulled into her elite world, Anita learns what it’s like to be treated as a wealthy, educated white woman—the person everyone believes her to be—and even finds herself in a heady romance with a moneyed Harvard student. It’s only when Lottie becomes infatuated with Anita’s brother, Frederick, whose skin is almost as light as his sister’s, that the situation becomes particularly perilous. And as Anita’s college graduation looms, those closest to her will be the ones to dangerously threaten her secret.

I read this historical novel for a graduate-level course on the history of higher education. I had no idea that this novel would bring back memories of my own undergraduate courses on African American Literature. The early 20th century was considered the "nadir era" where both legal segregation (Jim Crow laws) and increasing racial violence were common occurrences against African Americans. For example, Harlem Renaissance writers such as Nella Larsen ("Passing", "Quicksand") and James Weldon Johnson ("The Autobiography of the Ex-Colored Man") knew about the dangers of passing for American Americans of mixed-race ancestry. Some made this choice to achieve upward social mobility and to escape the racial terror that limited educational and employment opportunities for African Americans. Those who did pass successfully had to completely detach themselves from their former lives, including their relatives and acquaintances who might expose their hidden secrets. Tanabe adds to this literary tradition to portray the danger and loss that occurs when one decides to pass and never look back.

I was so thrilled to read Gilded Years because I could apply my background on race and educational inequality in a historical novel that intrigued me. Tanabe, who is also a Vassar alumna, does an excellent job of creating the setting for the Gilded Age. Anita's story takes her from her working-class neighborhood of Roxbury, Boston to the wealthy parts of Boston and New York City. The Gilded Age was a period of industrialization, the rise of modern capitalism, and imperialism abroad. It was also a dark, racist period in American history where African Americans were largely excluded from attending elite colleges. It is remarkable then that the real Anita Florence Hemmings (Class of 1897) (see picture on the right) represented one of the very few black women who was able to pursue an elite college education. Although she was a descendant of slaves, her light complexion was often mistaken for a Mediterranean look. Had she marked down "colored" on her application, her admittance surely would have been rejected. Despite this physical advantage, as the book reveals, her college peers start to question her ancestry weeks before graduation and her true racial identity is discovered in a tragic way. The real lesson then is, despite her academic accomplishments, not even Anita could escape America's obsession with race and the toll it would have on her family.

I highly recommend this novel. Meanwhile, I heard great news that Tanabe's novel may soon hit the big screens. Sony’s TriStar Pictures has won the worldwide rights to the psychological thriller “A White Lie,” produced by Reese Witherspoon and staring Zendaya as the first African-American woman to graduate from Vassar College. Stay tuned for further updates!

CSWE Releases Report on the Careers of Social Work Graduates

In April 2019, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) recently released a report on the careers of social work graduates. The report, From Social Work Education to Social Work Practice: Results of the Survey of 2018 Social Work Graduates, The George Washington University's Health Workforce Institute surveyed graduates of more than 100 MSW and BSW programs across the country to better understand the job market for social workers and the demographic background of new social workers, their educational and career pathways, employment outcomes, and job satisfaction. Below are the key findings from the report:

• Social workers are employed in a wide variety of settings serving clients with diverse needs. More than a third of MSW graduates focused on children and families, and a quarter focused on mental health issues.
• Most social workers are employed at private not-for-profit organizations, health-care organizations, and government agencies.
• Most new MSW graduates are providing direct services to individuals, families, and groups. Relatively few (7.8%) are providing indirect social work services, such as public policy, administration, management; planning; program evaluation; and research.
• More than three-quarters of MSW graduates are entering social work jobs, although not all such jobs require an MSW. More than 17% of MSW graduates are going into positions that do not have social work titles but in which they are using their social work education and skills.
• The profession is largely female; there are some differences in practice patterns by race and gender.
• Salaries of new MSWs are relatively low for individuals with a master’s degree.
• Online education offers access to educational opportunities in rural and semi-rural areas and to African Americans.
• The job market for new MSWs is mixed: There are opportunities, but many are not what the new graduates are looking for and the pay is lower than desired.
• More than one of three jobs taken by new graduates were with organizations with which the graduates had field placements during their social work education.
• The majority (80 percent) of new MSWs plan to become licensed clinical social workers.

Not surprisingly, macro social work practice ("indirect social work") is severely underrepresented in the social work profession. This reflects social work curriculum primarily focusing on clinical practice (I have nothing against clinical work, but we also need more social workers doing advocacy work in addition to providing direct assistance to high-need populations). This reflects two factors: (1) schools' unwillingness to invest in macro social work curriculum, and the (2) state licensing boards refusing to offer licensure in macro social work. Some states, such as Michigan, do offer a macro practice licensure, but the vast majority of states do not offer this option. For example, the ASWB (which is the equivalent of a state bar exam for lawyers) offers the Clinical and Advanced Generalist exams. Clearly, the latter option could incentivize states to offer macro practice licensure. 

Another surprise is the increasing use of online education ("distance learning") in social work education, especially among African Americans. Rural students who live more than 30 miles from a social work school would benefit under online education. But why are more African Americans shifting to online education? Researchers need to look into why students are seeking online education over brick-and-mortar schools. Is it cost? Is it convenience? The urban areas, in particular, tend to offer many social work schools. Does online education provide a means for some students to keep their day jobs and attend school at the same time? A problem with most social work schools is that they generally offer daytime instruction and prioritize full-time enrollment. While this scheduling works for young college graduates with few family responsibilities, it is not feasible for working parents who need full-time employment to cover child care expenses and transportation.

Overall, this report was timely and necessary to gain a better sense of the social work profession. More work needs to be done to promote macro social work practice and provide more scheduling options for working parents. My recommendation for macro practice social workers is to pursue another degree (e.g., public policy, law, business, education) in your field that will give you a leg up both in terms of salaries and career advancement. Macro social workers have to be entrepreneurial to employers on how the skills they learned in social work can transfer into a non-social work-title position. It is my hope that policymakers use this report to improve social work education.

New Short Film: Segregated by Design by Richard Rothstein

This short film was just released on August 8, 2019!!

"Segregated By Design" examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy. This legacy of segregation in cities across the country (through a practice known as redlining) had deep social and economic repercussions on African Americans, in terms of where they could live, where they could attend school, and how they could generate wealth. The short film (about 18 minutes) is based on the best-selling book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein, by Richard Rothstein. The book is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your local bookseller.

From Economic Policy Institute (EPI):

“Segregated by Design,” a short film based on The Color of Law by EPI distinguished fellow Richard Rothstein, examines the forgotten history of how federal, state, and local governments used law and policy to segregate every major metropolitan area in the U.S. The film illustrates how racially explicit, unconstitutional policies created patterns of residential segregation that persist today, driving Rothstein’s conclusion that we are obligated to remedy it. “Segregated by Design” premiered at the American Documentary Film Festival on March 29 in Palm Springs, California.

The key takeaway is that segregation was not by choice. Discriminatory public policies at the local, state and federal level forced African Americans to live in segregated neighborhoods not of their own choosing. This legacy has led to structural inequalities that persist to this day. Click here to watch the film.

NPR also created an excellent short video on the history of race and redlining in the United States:

Review: Great Job for Sociology Majors - Third Edition (2009)

Great Job for Sociology Majors - Third Edition (2008) by Stephen Lambert is a comprehensive career guide book that highlights the myriad of careers that someone can do with a sociology major. I picked this book because sociology was one of my specializations in college. This book helps students and recent college graduates on how to present a major in sociology as a workplace asset during an interview, how to conduct a job search, and ways to use the major in sociology in the real world. The advice on cover letter and resume are very useful for recent college graduates on how to craft their skills and work experience in sociology for future employers.

The book covers five common career paths with a major in sociology:

1. Human Services (Community Organizations and Social Services)
2. Human Resources Management
3. Public Employment
4. Social Research and Data Analysis
5. Teaching with an Advanced Degree (Master's and Ph.D.)

The major in sociology, as you can tell above, is an ideal preparation for careers in social work, education, public policy, law, and the private sector. Lambert, who is a career counselor by training, does an excellent job breaking down sociological concepts to real-world application. If you think your sociology major has on real value, Lambert helps you re-think that idea. If your specialization is sociology of the family, then it's ideal background for work with children and youth in social service agencies. Do you like learning how human relations operate in the workplace? That sociology of labor coursework is ideal for careers in human resources management. Sociology has portable skills; thus, the possibilities are endless. Lambert outlines how to conduct a self-assessment of your personal values, skills, areas for improvement, and long-term goals. Then he identifies what it is like to work in that career path from recommended skills to employment outlook. He also provides a listing (directory) of organizations in the common career paths. Overall, I believe this book is a great resource for those who are seeking ideas on what career to pursue. The content is still relevant even a decade later.

Review: SAGE Guide to Social Work Careers (2019)

SAGE Guide to Social Work Careers: Your Journey to Advocacy (2019) by Melissa Bird, PhD is a career book about macro social work practice. Unlike the other career books, this book does not focus on clinical work. Rather, it provides guidance for social work students whose dreams and aspirations are leading them toward a career in social justice and advocacy work. In macro social work, students learn this under other names such as community practice or policy practice. Ultimately this book provides students and professionals with a strategy that can be used to effect broad policy change in all political climates: community engagement, policy and legislation.

Each chapter has stories from the profession, job descriptions from the practice area, as well as advocacy and policy examples in each practice area. I am thankful for this book because there is little literature out there that focuses specifically on the needs of macro social workers. Macro social work practice is underrepresented in the social work profession, yet the origins and foundation of social work is rooted in macro-level processes (e.g. the settlement house movement, Progressive era, and New Deal policies such as Social Security, disability insurance, workers' compensation, and so forth). This timely book, based on the author's own experience as a social worker in political advocacy, is needed to encourage more social work students that they can have a career in macro social work practice. While the career path is more entrepreneurial than the typical requirements for a clinical social worker, the experiences gained can be rewarding and life-changing, particularly if you work on a policy that will benefit a population in need. Overall, I highly recommend this invaluable resource for anyone who is considering macro social work practice. I believe that everyone should follow their passion and use the available resources to turn those aspirations into a career, whether it's through direct work with individuals or advocating on behalf of groups in the policy arena. Social work is not simply clinical work; it a microcosm of the different ways in which we as a profession effect social change.

This book contains the following chapters:

1. Follow Your Passion, Not Just a Path
2. Poverty
3. Child Welfare
4. Health Care
5. Disability
6. Mental Health
7. Substance Abuse
8. Aging
9. Criminal Justice
10. Advice for Moving Forward (resume, interview, etc.)

Review: Careers in Human Services (2015)

Careers in Human Services (2015) by Michael Shally-Jensen, PhD is a comprehensive occupational guidebook that contains 25 chapters describing specific fields of interest in the human services. It provides the necessary insight into potential careers and instruction on what job seekers can expect in terms of training, advancement, earnings, job prospects, working conditions, relevant associations, and more. Each chapter comes with fun facts, famous firsts, photos, and charts and tables, including projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and median annual salaries or wages for those occupations profiled. A highlight of each chapter is the interviews with a professional working in a related job sharing their personal career paths, detail potential for career advancement, and advice for students. The guidebook is specifically designed for undergraduate students or those changing careers.

Social Work is one of the chapters in the guidebook. The first section provided a snapshot with career cluster, interests, earnings, and employment outlook. The overview focused on the sphere of work ("Social workers are social service professionals committed to improving the social and behavioral lives of individuals, families, and communities." Macro social workers are labeled as "administrative social workers" who engage in research, policy, and administration. Interestingly, the profile section includes the type of people drawn to the social worker profession and the Holland Interest Score, a career inventory that measures your personality under six occupational categories. This makes me want to take a Holland Interest Test! There is extensive coverage on the duties and responsibilities of social workers by practice area (child welfare, school, psychiatric, etc.) as well as relevant skills and abilities in the physical and human environment. The second section focused on education and training. It starts with high school/secondary preparation and continues with recommended college majors. There is detail on the professional licensure requirements and the importance of joining a professional social work association. All of this information is helpful and conducive for someone who is new to careers. The third section focused on earnings and advancement. The guidebook offers a hourly wage chart for social workers by metropolitan areas which is useful when one must consider regional economic differences. It concludes with an interview with a clinical social worker, selected schools that offer MSW programs, and websites of professional social work associations.

Overall, I found this guidebook to be wonderful for young readers who might be intimidated by career books and want a gradual introduction to human services. It doesn't only focus on social work but related fields like psychologist or the clergy. For someone who wants to help individuals and communities but have not decided on a precise occupation, this is the right book for you to explore and learn. I highly recommend it.

Social Work Month 2019 Theme: Elevate Social Work

The 2019 theme for Social Work Month is Elevate Social Work. From NASW website:

Every day, the nation's 680,000 social workers work to empower and elevate millions of people, including some of the most vulnerable in our society.

National Professional Social Work Month in March 2019 is an opportunity for social workers around the nation and world and their supporters to educate the public about the invaluable contributions of the profession.

And we will also use the month to begin a conversation on how to boost the pay of social workers, which continues to lag behind that of other helping professions.

March also has World Social Work Day. The 2019 theme is "Promoting the Importance of Human Relationships." From IFSW website:

The 2019 world social work day highlights ‘Promoting the Importance of Human Relationships’.

World Social Work Day is on the 19th March 2019. It is the key day in the year that social workers worldwide stand together to celebrate the achievements of the profession and take the theme message into their communities, workplaces and to their governments to raise awareness of the social work contributions and need for further action.

This year’s theme focuses on the social relationships between people’s essential relationships with each other, their environments and their futures.

NPQ: The Organic Role of Libraries as Centers of Inclusiveness and Support

The Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) has a very interesting story on the evolving role of public libraries as community centers. As a result, librarians are increasingly finding themselves in the role of social service provision, even though that was not their primary responsibilities (and certainly not their training in graduate school!). Public libraries are forming partnerships with social workers to become more inclusive and supportive in addressing the diverse needs of marginalized populations in the community. I remember San Francisco became the first major public library system to hire a social worker on their staff. Public libraries are more than just books--librarians and paraprofessionals must be cognizant of social problems in the community like affordable housing and other adverse challenges. Below is an excerpt:

People may check out fewer books from libraries than they used to, but libraries have continued to grow as their role as community hubs deepens. Here at NPQ, we have profiled libraries that have become maker spaces, supported gardening, and rented out musical instruments. In some cities, librarians have been trained to administer Narcan to interrupt opioid overdoses. In Ferguson and in Baltimore, as those cities were in a state of unrest after the killings of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, respectively, the libraries served as sanctuaries, remaining open to the community. They have, in some cases, even been affordable housing partners.

Sign up for Smartbrief Newsletter

Ever wonder how you can find the latest industry news in one place? Smartbrief is an excellent website that brings the most important industry-specific news to you! Smartbrief editors curate top stories from more than 10,000 credible sources and summarize them for you. I receive their emails daily on industry topics such as education for instance. The news comes to me rather than me searching through individual websites. Sign up today!

• Educational Leadership
• K-12 Education
• Higher Education

Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) has their own Smartbrief newsletter focused specifically on higher educaiton careers and employment trends. I haven't forgotten about social workers. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has their own Smartbrief newsletter. This is a great resource for social workers who work in clinical and/or policy settings.

2018: A Year of Commemorating Civil Rights

Happy New Year! 2018 was an incredibly busy year for me. It marked a major comeback for me in education. I am looking forward to spending more time building up this blog. I have exciting things planned for 2019. Expect more updates and posts on this blog. Before we start the new year, I want to reflect on an incredible year. 2018 was also a year to commemorate important events in civil rights history in America. More importantly, they were related to my research interests. Check them out below!

1. 50th Anniversary of the Kerner Commission Report: Formally known as the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, the Kerner Commission, named after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner, Jr. of Illinois, was an 11-member Presidential Commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson in Executive Order 11365 to investigate the causes of the 1967 race riots in the United States and to provide recommendations for the future. This report was significant because Detroit was one of the cities that influenced the establishment of this government study.
   
   
   
   
2. 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act: Known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination by direct providers of housing whose discriminatory practices make housing unavailable to persons because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
   
   
3. 50th anniversary of the Poor People's Campaign: The Poor People's March on Washington was a 1968 effort to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States. It was organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and carried out under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy in the wake of King's assassination.
   
   

In 2018, my alma mater, Northwestern University, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Bursar's Office Takeover. I visited the campus last summer to learn more about the legacy and impact of the student sit-in on the university. In 1968, more than 100 Northwestern students peacefully occupied the Bursar’s Office to protest the black student experience. It led to increasing black student enrollment and financial aid, to revised housing policies, to the expansion of “studies of black history and black culture,” among others. I would argue that this event inspired me to learn more about civil rights and social justice in college and beyond.

To learn more about the history of the black student experience at Northwestern University, please check out this recent book release, Voices and Visions: The Evolution of the Black Experience at Northwestern University (2018).

This volume shares the experiences of African American students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni who studied, worked, struggled and triumphed at Northwestern University from the late 19th century to the present. Through over fifty first person accounts, the stories of individuals and groups critical to the progression of the Black experience at Northwestern are used to reveal that evolution."