Why a Social Work Degree Is So Important in Todays World

Over the past year, a national discussion has emerged regarding who is deemed an essential worker.

The pandemic highlighted how our society would crumble without the aid and support of certain workers. While we can easily understand how service workers, nurses, and teachers fit within this category, we have also seen the necessity of another essential worker: the social worker.

Social work is an applied science and practice-based helping profession that seeks to "enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty" (NASW Code of Ethics).

Social work is a science of hope, rooted in the core values of service, competency, integrity, social justice, the importance of human relationships, and the dignity and worth of a person.

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Social work in practice is driven by the knowledge that no one lives in a vacuum, and that all of our lives are impacted by both our biological and psychological influences and by our environmental contexts.

Utilizing evidence-based research into biological, psychological, and social impacts on human behavior, trauma, oppression, and problems of living — while always upholding the professional code of ethics — social workers address both personal and systemic barriers to human well-being and flourishing.

While often associated with other helping professions, such as counseling and psychology, social work utilizes a unique perspective to help conceptualize individual, group, and community behavior in the context of the multifaceted environment in which we all live.

This person-in-environment approach is a guiding principle in the field of social work, distinguishing it from other helping professions. Social work in practice is driven by the knowledge that no one lives in a vacuum, and that all of our lives are impacted by both our biological and psychological influences and by our environmental contexts.

A Personal Perspective

I was exposed to social work at a young age and knew that this was the field where I wanted to be. Rather than a career, social work feels like a calling. I wanted to spend my life doing something that gave me a sense of purpose and helped relieve people's suffering, and that is exactly what I found in this profession.

In 2009, I graduated with a bachelor of social work degree and began working immediately in the field of child abuse and neglect. Since then, I have had the opportunity to experience all the profession has to offer.

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I wanted to spend my life doing something that gave me a sense of purpose and helped relieve people's suffering, and that is exactly what I found in this profession.

I have worked with children with developmental disabilities, individuals with mental illness, and the elderly. I have provided education and training for other social workers in long-term care settings and have written home studies for prospective kinship and foster/adoptive families.

I have worked in hospice, early childhood education, and with victims of domestic violence. After 10 years of direct practice, I entered the higher education classroom and have spent the last two years teaching the next generation of social workers.

The full scope of the social work profession is more expansive than I knew was possible when I began my career. And after 12 years as a social worker, I remain convinced that social workers are essential to both individual and community well-being.

Conclusion

If I could tell those considering a career in social work one thing, it is this: Social work matters. The work that you desire to do matters. The people that you want to help matter.

Rather than dying out, this field is expanding. Our society has come to understand that if there are people who have needs to be met, social workers should have a seat at the table, because there is no other profession that has the same foundation of evidence-based research and professional values and ethics. These are the driving forces behind the practice and advocacy that social workers do day in and day out.

It is not always a glamorous work, but it is an important work. It is a work that focuses on championing social justice and service and valuing the dignity and worth of all human beings. It is a job that is unlike any other. You will work every day to enhance human well-being, help meet basic human needs, empower the vulnerable and oppressed, and eradicate poverty, discrimination, and all forms of injustice.

Social workers are essential, and the work that we do matters. And after 12 years of experience, I can honestly say that I would choose it all over again.

Angela Clavijo, LMSW

Angela Clavijo is an instructor of social work at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. She is a 2009 graduate from the Lamar University Social Work Program and later received her master's degree in social work from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. She worked in direct practice for 10 years prior to joining the faculty at Lamar University and has experience in child and family welfare, healthcare, consultant services, and school social work.

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