A Study of PhD Courses and Curricula Across Schools of Social Work

Abstract

Objectives

This study explored courses offered by social work PhD programs, the variation in these courses by type of university, and how the courses compare to the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE) Quality Guidelines.

Study Methods

Course curriculums of 84 GADE-affiliated social work PhD programs were double-blind coded. PhD directors verified codes and answered a brief survey.

Findings

A total of 1146 courses were coded into 28 categories. An average of six research and statistics courses were offered per program. Few programs offered courses in measurement, intervention research, meta-analysis, program evaluation, or grant writing. Most programs indicated that diversity, equity, and inclusion was infused in the curriculum. Less than half (41%) of PhD program directors indicated that GADE Quality Guidelines were influential.

Conclusions

PhD programs are offering more research and statistics courses than in the past, but GADE Quality Guidelines are not consistently followed.

Keywords

higher education administration social work curriculum PhD curriculum educational issues doctoral education scholarship of teaching and learning

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anastas

J. W.

(2012). Doctoral education in social work. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Anastas

Congress

(1999). Philosophical issues in doctoral education in social work: a survey of doctoral program directors. Journal of Social Work Education, 35(1), 143-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.1999.10778953.

Berzoff

Drisko

(2015). Preparing PhD-level clinical social work practitioners for the 21st century. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 35(1-2), 82-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2014.993107.

Brekke

Anastas

(2019). Shaping the science of social work. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Center for Postsecondary Research (2018). Carnegie classifications of institutions of higher education. https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/definitions.php.

Chin

Hawkins

Krings

Peguero-Spencer

Gutiérrez

(2018). Investigating diversity in social work doctoral education in the United States. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(4), 762-775. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2018.1503127.

Cronley

Black

Killian

(2019). Teaching note—preparing doctoral students toconfront the grand challenges: strengthening baseline statistical skills. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(1), 389-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2018.1544520.

Denecke

Kent

McCarthy

M. T.

(2017). Articulating learning outcomes in doctoral education. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools.

Drisko

Hunnicutt

Berenson

(2015). A national content analysis of PhD program objectives, structures, and curricula: do programs address the full range of social work’s needs? Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 35(1-2), 14-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2014.986356.

10.

Fong

(2012). Framing education for a science of social work: missions, curriculum, and doctoral training. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(5), 529-536. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731512452977.

11.

Fraser

M. W.

(2004). Intervention research in social work: recent advances and continuing challenges. Research on Social Work Practice, 14(3), 210-222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731503262150.

12.

Fraser

M. W.

Jenson

J. M.

Lewis

R. E.

(1991). Training for research scholarship in social work doctoral programs. Social Science Research, 65(4), 597-613. https://doi.org/10.1086/603877.

13.

Gehlert

Hall

K. L.

Palinkas

L. A.

(2017). Preparing our next-generation scientific workforce to address the grand challenges for social work. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 8(1), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1086/690659.

14.

Goodman

(2015). Current issues in social work doctoral education. Journal of Teaching and Social Work, 35(1), 29-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2015.1007802.

15.

Harrington

Petr

C. G.

Black

B. M.

Cunningham-Williams

R. M.

Bentley

K. J.

(2013). Quality guideliens for PhD programs in social work. The Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Educaiorn in Social Work, 24(3), 281-286. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731513517145.

16.

Harrington

Petr

C. G.

Black

B. M.

Cunningham-Williams

R. M.

Bentley

K. J.

(2014). Quality guidelines for social work PhD programs. Research on Social Work Practice, 24(3), 281-286. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731513517145.

17.

Howard

M. O.

Garland

E. L.

(2015). Social work research: 2044. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 6(2), 173-200. https://doi.org/10.1086/681099.

18.

Hudson

K. D.

Shapiro

V. B.

Moylan

Garcia

Derr

A. S.

(2014). Teaching note-Infusing social justice into doctoral programs of social welfare: an incremental approach. Journal of Social Work Education, 50(3), 559-567. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2014.916943.

19.

Kurzman

P. A.

(2015). The evolution of doctoral social work education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 35(1-2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2015.1007832.

20.

Lee

M. Y.

Eads

(2020). 2020 GADE director survey report. The Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education (GADE). Published on-line https://www.gadephd.org.

21.

Lee

M. Y.

Eads

Lightfoot

LaSala

M. C.

Franklin

(under review). Current landscape of doctoral education in social work: a look at the PhD and DSW programs. Journal of Social Work Education.

22.

Lightfoot

Beltran

(2018). The group for the advancement of doctoral education in social work. In Encyclopedia of Social Work. Franklin, C: NASW and Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1281.

23.

Lightfoot

Gal

Weiss-Gal

(2018). Social policy in social work PhD programs in the United States. Research on Social Work Practice, 28(3), 234-242. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731517710328.

24.

Maynard

B. R.

Labuzienski

E. M.

Lind

K. S.

Berglund

A. H.

Albright

D. L.

(2017). Social work doctoral education: are doctoral students being prepared to teach? Journal of Social Work, 17(1), 91-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017316637226.

25.

Maynard

B. R.

Vaughn

M. G.

Sarteschi

C. M.

Berglund

A. H.

(2014). Social work dissertation research: contributing to scholarly discourse or the file drawer? British Journal of Social Work, 44(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs172.

26.

McGovern

Zimmerman

(2018). Social work doctoral program administration: current status, information needs, and capacity to address persistent critiques. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(4), 727-749. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2018.1503128.

27.

Nurius

P. S.

Kemp

S. P.

(2014). Transdisciplinarity and translation: preparing social work doctoral students for high impact research. Research on Social Work Practice, 24(5), 625-635. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731513512375.

28.

Petr

C. G.

Harrington

Kim

Black

Cunningham-Williams

R. M.

Bentley

K. J.

(2015). Quality indicators and expected outcomes for social work PhD programs: perceptions of social work students, faculty, and administrators. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(4), 648-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2015.1076272.

29.

Rubin

Davis

(1981). The elusive doctoral curriculum: a dilemma for the social work profession. Areté, 6(3), 1-9.

30.

Tucker

A. R.

Blythe

(2008). Attention to treatment fidelity in social work outcomes: A review of the literature from the 1990s. Social Work Research, 32(3), 185-190. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/32.3.185.

31.

Walker

G. E.

Golde

C. M.

Jones

Bueschel

A. C.

Hutchings

(2008). The formation of scholars: Rethinking doctoral education for the 21st century. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.