Assessing Antiracism Learning in Social Work Education: A Systematic Review

Background and Purpose: Racism has consistently challenged our country’s conceptions of itself as a free and just society, and there is little doubt that racism has been—and continues to be—America’s grand challenge (Davis, 2016).  Recent reversals of gains made during the Civil Rights Movement underscore the urgency of educating social workers to achieve a world without racism. CSWE has encouraged a shift towards outcomes based curriculum development and competency assessment. Given the importance of antiracism education, assessing how competent students are in practicing antiracism is of critical importance. This paper presents findings of a systematic review of studies examining antiracism learning outcomes in social work education.  

Methods: Eleven unique databases were reviewed using a conceptually oriented keyword search term approach that consisted of the following convention: a) [Concept 1]: “racial justice” OR “antiracism” OR “cultural competence” OR “Racism” OR “race” OR “racial inequality” OR “racial discrimination” OR “social justice” OR “race relations” OR “intersectionality” OR “microaggressions” OR “racial equity” OR “Critical Race Theory” OR “ethnicity” OR “color” OR “tribal” AND b [Concept 2]: “social work” OR “social services” OR “social care” AND c) [Concept 3]: “education” OR “teaching” OR “pedagogy” OR “training” OR “social work education” OR “social work curriculum” OR “competency. Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE; 2010) methodological standards were applied, and search parameters were limited to English language articles published between 1998 and 2018 (inclusive). A double search and screening strategy (SCIE, 2010) was employed to enhance reliability. Studies met criteria for full text review (Phase 1) if the title OR abstract indicated (a) [Concept 1] AND (b) [Concept 2] AND (c) [Concept 3] and (d) explicit assessment of outcomes in a social work student population. For studies that met inclusion criteria in Phase 1, investigators reviewed the full text of the article (Phase 2). 

Results: Of 150 articles identified, 23 (15.3%) met criteria for Phase 1; after Phase 2 full text review, only 3(2.0%) met inclusion criteria. Included studies utilized quantitative study designs with standardized self-report measures for assessment purposes. While these studies met inclusion criteria, none explicitly reported antiracism as a competency or a learning outcome. As such, these studies are more aptly categorized as ‘anti-racism inclusive’, as they reported outcomes related to antiracism work (e.g., cultural responsivity, diversity, attribution of inequality to structural forces), but did not explicitly name or link the construct to antiracism or antiracist practice.  

Conclusions and Implications: Despite the critical and importance of and need for antiracist social work practice, the assessment and measurement of antiracism as a competency in social work education is sparse. To adequately prepare future social workers to meet the Grand Challenge of reducing racial and economic inequality, more attention to assessing antiracism learning in social work education is necessary.