Socializing Black Students into the Profession - a Communal Project

Professional socialization or professionalization is a process through which individuals learn an industry's roles, values, functions, knowledge, and skills to work in it at an advanced level. Extant literature identifies four overlapping professionalization processes: mentorship, skills and knowledge acquisition, professional development, and networking; career access, success, and commitment, and professional identity development, are the desired outcomes of these processes (e.g., Twale et al., 2016).

A 2022 report from the Association of Social Work Boards revealed that only 57% of Black test takers passed their clinical exams for licensure in 2021, the lowest of all racial groups tracked. The small body of literature about Black social work students also illuminates anti-Blackness in social work professionalization, which possibly contributes to these racialized disparities in exam pass rates. Black students who matriculate through programs not affiliated with Historically Black Colleges and Universities commonly: pressure themselves into conforming with "mainstream" social work's sociocultural norms; feel compelled to explain their Blackness to classmates and instructors; receive messaging in courses about Blackness being inherently tied to suffering; and struggle with securing practicum placements, completing practicum hours, or being targeted by racism while in practicum (e.g., Brown et al., 2019; Opara & Brown, 2021; Stephens & Rock-Vanloo, 2022).

In response to these concerns, the proposed session has six aims that will support enhancing the professionalization experiences and outcomes for Black social work students. The session will prioritize social work educators, practitioners, and scholars affiliated with Historically White Institutions, introducing them to:

(i) Black Social Work as a distinct practice approach with unique aims, values, and frameworks; (ii) Blackness-affirming educational practices that social work programs and practice settings can implement to support Black students and practitioners; and (iii) a new, research-based model for professionalization that provides guidance on areas in which students can develop competence during matriculation.

Participants will also (iv) reflect on their own professional socialization, contextualized by the introduced model, (v) critique the model as part of advancing its possible implementation, and (vi) collaboratively brainstorm techniques for supporting Black students' professional socialization in their social work programs. The presenter will create and distribute a worksheet to guide participants through the workshop's last three aims, and will answer questions as they arise during the session.

References:

Brown, S. L., Johnson, Z., & Miller, S. (2019). Racial microaggressions and black social work students: A call to social work educators for proactive models informed by social justice. Social Work Education, 38(5), 618-630. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2019.1594754

Twale, D., Weidman, J., & Bethea, K. (2016). Conceptualizing socialization of graduate students of color: Revisiting the Weidman-Twale-Stein framework. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 40(2), 80-94. https://sites.pitt.edu/~weidman/2016-ConceptSocGradStudColor.pdf

Opara, I., & Brown, T. L. (2021). Teaching note: #blackgirlsmatter and the social work curriculum: Integrating intersectionality within social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 59(1), 263-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2021.1985026

Stephens, T. N., & Rock-Vanloo, N. I. (2022). Talk about race: Using critical race theory to support black social work students and prepare a representative and critical workforce. Social Work Education, 41(3), 370-386. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1841155