Identifying Mechanisms for Undergraduates to Engage in Social Justice

Background and Purpose: Social justice is one of six professional values for social workers (NASW, 2021) and a core competency for social work education (Council on Social Work Education, 2022) yet little is known about how social work education can promote engagement in social justice. Developing the knowledge, values, and skills associated with implementing change through a justice lens can be a challenge as instructors have a responsibility to ensure not just that social justice is taught but also students learn how to engage in social justice (Benner et al., 2019). A common approach for student learning is to better understand the outcomes and mechanisms of injustice. However, when social workers focus on injustice, we fail to allow space to understand how to develop and apply skills to engage justice and subsequently challenge injustice in practice.

Methods: This study sought to understand how undergraduate students perceive their ability to engage in social justice and better understand the influences of how undergraduate students relate to social justice. Participants (N = 167) were enrolled in an introductory undergraduate social work course that fulfills general education requirements at a large southeastern university in the Spring 2024 semester (IRB #95584). Participants completed open ended questions reflecting the domains of the Social Justice Scale (Torres-Harding et al., 2012) regarding social justice attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and social justice behavioral intentions.

Results: Three primary themes emerged related to better understanding social justice influences: 1) media – mostly social media such as TikTok; 2) family; and 3) experiences at college. These themes reveal complex intersections between personal identity, lived experience, and social justice engagement, with many students struggling to find their role and voice to engage in social justice. In general, experiences while at college broadened student understanding of lived experiences that differ from their own.

Conclusions and Implications: The responses from this assignment helped shape instructor awareness of student influences, understanding, and intent to engage (or not) in social justice, thus helping to inform lecture content and discussion with students. The demonstrated level of awareness of social justice within students as well as the sources of information that informed barriers and incentives to engage social justice were informative in the class and could provide a foundation for other educators to develop and implement strategies for students to better understand social justice. Social work curriculum facilitates engagement with social justice through shaping perceptions and informing intentions to act. Student perceptions of backlash, lack of credibility, and uncertainty on how to engage can be effectively addressed in curriculum and can create motivation for students seeking ways to fully engage. Understanding knowledge sources and addressing barriers and incentives to engagement informs social work curriculum and builds capacity for engaging in social justice.