Exploitation for an Education.

Equity, inclusion, and professional excellence. As social workers, we strive to implement these core values into all aspects of our practice. But how equitable is our required social work education? How inclusive is our social work education? How is professional excellence attainable when the profession places financial burdens on its students? In order to complete a social work education, we are required to complete an internship, 400 hours for a BSW, and 900 hours for an MSW. You’ve all done it, or you’re all in the process of doing it, like me. Easy enough, right? These placements play a critical role in preparing future social workers, preparing them with experience, supervision, and financial burdens. Burdens that turn students away from social work, and the growing need for social services. Burdens that deter a more diverse and inclusive social work workforce by creating a barrier against those from historically marginalized communities. The CWSE found that compared to white social workers, black and Hispanic social workers are carrying more student loan debt.

So, how many more times can we students be told that we will be compensated with academic credit for our unpaid work? How can we find a solution when all generations of social workers have been exploited by a system we set up and perpetuate to each new generation? What is the solution? In a time where our profession is being re-classified by the federal government as “un-professional”, if we don’t start finding solutions, we will get further and further away from our core values of equity, inclusion, and professional excellence in our own profession. Not only do I have to deal with being told that my degree is “un-professional”, but I have my own community, program, and mentors informing me that my only solution is to keep taking out loans to juggle my education, placement, cost of living, and any other expenses I may have. How is that equitable? How is that inclusive? What professional excellence?        

As a student, I am frustrated, but as a social worker, I see it as my duty to call in this hypocrisy and demand that there has to be a better way for a profession that champions social justice and change. I am not the only one who shares this frustration. Students before me have created and now run Payment for Placement (P4P), a nationwide movement calling for all social work students to be paid for their internships. Their advocacy has inspired chapters at multiple institutions across the country, even gaining the recognition of their state policymakers to create social change, starting with Michigan and working their way to implement state-wide stipends for graduate students completing their internships in public schools. In Maryland, P4P has a chapter at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This is the start. We have the tools; we just need the support from our social work community.

            The NASW and CSWE have shared their collaboration with academic institutions, students, and agencies to explore strategies to offer financial support to students. Their plans are simple: advocacy at all levels for stipends, scholarships, and funding for students. Students deserve the chance to learn and grow without being crushed by the weight of financial stress. So, I ask my fellow social workers, mentors, and the community, what will you do to make social work an equitable, inclusive, and a profession of professional excellence?

By Meghan Goodman, BSW, MSW Student, NASW-MD Intern