Applying the Principles to the Discipline
As Sacred Heart begins accepting applications for its first ever Ph.D., it’s no accident that the structure—and indeed the very nature—of that program is emblematic of the University’s commitment to social justice.
Feature article from the Fall 2020 issue of Sacred Heart University Magazine
The demand for highly trained and educated individuals in the field of social work is steeply on the rise and, with it, a rise in the demand for the highly trained and educated practitioners and researchers to supply them. But as candidates pursue those higher degrees in social work, their options seem to be limiting themselves.
At the doctoral level, students work toward either a DSW (a practical degree excellent for those pursuing growth in clinical roles or advancement to leadership positions in mental health agencies, community-based care and the like) or a Ph.D. (with its focus on the scholarly research and pedagogy that informs both the practice and the teaching of it). There’s an enormous difference in how the programs are typically delivered, however, and that makes all the difference as regards their accessibility by even the most qualified candidates.
Ph.D. programs, in general, have a long history of issues regarding exclusivity as their academic expectations tend to force candidates to choose between their studies and basic necessities such as familial obligations and employment. For many, such a choice is a luxury. For the socioeconomically disadvantaged, it’s a nonstarter further perpetuating their underrepresentation when it comes to research and teaching positions—a brutal irony given the field in question.
DSW programs typically offer much greater flexibility for the candidate. As such, these programs often see much higher enrollment, but not necessarily because it’s the path the candidates most desire. It’s just the only one that’s realistically open to them.
This perpetuates something of a bottleneck when it comes to both research and opportunity in the field. Social work is, of course, practical by definition. But if its study is only practical, if there is too little research into the sociological, psychological, political and economic theories that drive our understanding and practice of social work, then that practice can never properly evolve.
This fall, Sacred Heart begins accepting applications for a Ph.D. in social work that aims to address both of these issues. By offering the course in an almost entirely online format, candidates who have the talent and the will need not be excluded for lack of time or resources.
“We’re taking a chance,” says Jennifer Wilson, clinical assistant professor in SHU’s School of Social Work, noting that at the outset the program might cost more than it makes. To be fair, such is typically the case for any new degree offering; on an administrative level, adding the degree to a university’s portfolio is seen as an investment.
In this case, though, it’s also seen as a moral imperative. With social justice at the heart of the University’s mission, this program begins to address academia’s demographic imbalance head on. Women of color, for example, constitute the highest-growing demographic of students interested in pursuing doctoral education and yet are among the least successful demographics at actually accessing it. “There are many well-qualified master’s-level social workers who would excel in a Ph.D. program,” Wilson says, “but to expect someone who makes an essential financial contribution to their family to drop everything and commit full time to the University is just outdated thinking.”
By going online, the University is able to maintain the academic standards of the degree while offering students the flexibility the current world requires. It also drastically widens the geographic pool from which the best-qualified candidates can apply.
Wilson says she’s optimistic, as much for SHU’s program as for the discipline itself. The opportunity to contribute to a broader understanding of the field by simultaneously diversifying the perspectives brought to bear on it makes this a promising moment indeed.