Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose This poster examines the attitudes of social work education faculty about the breadth of content offered to MSW students to prepare them for culturally sensitive practice with Latinos. The overreaching issue with which this study is concerned is the extent to which social workers are prepared for culturally sensitive practice with Latinos in a manner and scope responsive to the service needs of this population. Methods This quantitative study with a qualitative component was both exploratory and explanatory in nature, studying the perceptions of faculty around two main research questions: 1) What are the attitudes of social work faculty regarding the curriculum in preparing students for culturally sensitive practice? and 2) What do faculty think is lacking in the curriculum regarding culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos? A random sample of 1050 faculty were selected, 314 faculty responded to the study. Statistical analysis demonstrated that this sample was sufficiently representative. Results Overall, faculty perceive that their programs are doing a better job of preparing students for culturally sensitive social work in general than in preparing students for social work with Latinos. 42% of social work faculty either agreed or strongly agreed that students are prepared for culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos. This contrasts to nearly 70% who agreed or strongly agreed that their students are prepared for culturally sensitive social work in general. Other measures indicate a similar pattern. Faculty perceived several deficits in MSW programs regarding preparing students for culturally sensitive social work with Latinos. 58 faculty identified the lack of Latino faculty as a significant problem for their programs. 41 faculty noted that their MSW programs could most improve in preparing students for culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos by adding more Latino content. Forty faculty wrote responses pertaining to the recruitment of more Latino students. Implications Implications of this research are discussed as the relate to: 1) shifting demographics that will lead to an increasing representation of Latinos in the United States; 2) the social service needs of Latinos; 3) the need and mandate for culturally sensitive social work practice; 4) the current lack of clarity regarding culturally sensitive social work; and 5) the globalization of social and economic institutions. Each of these points, in conjunction with the findings of this research, point to the need for MSW programs to assess their ability to train students for culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos. The presentation of this poster will focus on the implications of this study for social work educational policy.