Description: Despite the social work profession’s unified commitment to identify and address widespread societal problems, there have been few scholarly articles that have focused on the Grand Challenges for Social Work (“Grand Challenges”). While half of social work academic programs have reported incorporating content about the Grand Challenges initiative into curricula, there have not been any known empirical studies about whether graduates have interests in these areas or feel prepared to address the identified concerns. Additionally, pedagogical tools for educators interested in enhancing student interest are limited. This webinar will present the results of two published studies that examined the impact of focusing student capstone experiences on the Grand Challenges and examined the views of social work graduates about their interest in and perceived competency to address these formidable social problems. Additionally, the views of graduates about the likelihood of the profession to make progress in these areas will be discussed. Webinar material has significant implications for social work education and is essential if the profession wants to have desired societal impacts.
Presenters: Dawn Apgar, PhD, Lori Zerrusen, LSW
Wednesday October 30 12pm PST/3pm EST