Factors Influencing the Inclusion of Social Justice in Social Work Mission Statements

Background and Purpose

Although recognized as a fundamental cornerstone of the profession, many aspects of social justice in social work education remain vague. Mission statements within the higher educational setting aim to establish a clear focus and direction for the institution, while also helping guide affiliations between the educational organization and the general public (Velcoff & Ferrari, 2006). Previous research has demonstrated the varied utilizations of the term “social justice” within mission statements across social work departments (Holosko et al., 2015). Thus, evaluating the multi-level factors that contribute to the mission of social work programs as it relates to social justice can provide understanding as to why social justice in social work education remains so elusive. This study sought to explore the relationships between institutional and geographic variables and the inclusion of social justice in mission statements of social work programs.

Method

The current study analyzed the mission statements of 603 CSWE accredited social work programs to determine whether an explicit statement regarding social justice was included. Additional information about institutional (i.e., degree types, religious affiliation, funding source, minority serving institution status) and community level variables (i.e., geographical region, political affiliation, urban versus rural) was collected from university websites and other publicly available sources. Linear regression analysis was used to test the association between institutional and geographic variables and the presence of a social justice statement within a program’s mission statement.

Results

In all, the geographic variables accounted for 2.1% of the variance in the inclusion of a social justice statement, F(2, 574) = 6.26, p = .002 and institutional variables accounted for 2.9% of the variance in the inclusion of a social justice statement, F(8, 568) = 2.103, p = .034. When all variables were included in the model, population density was the only statistically significant (β = .103, t = 2.29, p = .022) with programs located in rural areas being significantly less likely to include an explicit statement about social justice within their mission statement.

Conclusions and Implications

The current study found that the population density of the geographical region a university was located in was the only significant predictor of whether social justice was included within the mission statement for social work departments. This finding suggests that the cultural context of an academic institution might influence the emphasis on social justice in its mission statement. It is possible that departments that emphasize social justice within their mission statements also are more likely to emphasize the topic in their curriculum. The data for this study was collected in May of 2020, prior to the murder of George Floyd and efforts by organizers, such as Black Lives Matter, to increase the public’s awareness of and engagement with social justice activities. Research analyzing changes to mission statements over time could further our understanding of how context is related to the development of mission statements.