Related projects

​Social Work Speaks Out!

The Study: Social Work Speaks Out [SWSO] is a study of over 1000 LGBTQ social work students (BSW/MSW) across the United States and Canada. Developed by Dr. Craig and a small committee of the Council on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (CSOGIE) of the Council Social Work Education, the study explored the educational experiences of students in social work programs at the program and institutional levels. Perceived readiness of social work students to practice with LGBTQ populations was an integral area of investigation, as LGBTQ students may be most equipped to determine their own and their peers readiness. Many publications and presentations have resulted from this work.

Summary of Results: SWSO explored educational experiences in 126 programs in 44 U. S. states and 7 Canadian provinces. 44% of students reported limited inclusion of LGBTQ content in classes, yet 64% indicated some degree of support for their LGBTQ identities in their programs. One-third reported homophobic experiences in programs, yet many (63%) were aware of “out” LGBTQ faculty. Overall, students reported fairly low levels of self-assessed practice readiness with specific sub-populations (i.e., gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender), with participants reporting the highest (somewhat prepared) self-assessed readiness with gay populations and the lowest (not well-prepared) self-assessed readiness with transgender populations. Participants suggested lower readiness for their non-LGBTQ colleagues.

Publications

Craig, S. L., McInroy, L. B., & Dorion, C. (In Press). Oh Canada: Explicating the educational experiences of sexual and gender variant students in Canadian Social Work Programs. Queering Social Work. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Craig, S. L., Dentato, M. P., Messinger, L., & McInroy, L. B. (2014). Educational determinants of readiness to practise with LGBTQ clients: Social work students speak out. The British Journal of Social Work. DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcu107

Dentato, M. P., Craig, S. L., Messinger, L., Lloyd, M., & McInroy, L. B. (2013). “Outness” among LGBTQ social work students in North America: The contribution of environmental supports and perceptions of comfort. Social Work Education: The International Journal. 33(4), 485-501.

McInroy, L. B., Craig, S. L., & Austin, A. (2014). The perceived scarcity of gender identity specific content in Canadian social work programs. Canadian Social Work Review, 31(1), 5-21.