Article: Career Preferences of Social Work Students in Beijing and Shanghai

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TitleCareer Preferences of Social Work Students in Beijing and Shanghai
AuthorsSha, W2
Wong, YC1
Lou, VWQ1
Pearson, V1
Gu, DH2
KeywordsCareer Preferences
China
Social Work Education
Social Work Students
Issue Date2012
PublisherRoutledge. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/02615479.asp
CitationSocial Work Education, 2012, v. 31 n. 1, p. 4-21 [How to Cite?]
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2010.538672
AbstractProfessional social work is a recent development in China. This article reports the results of a survey of social work students (n = 1331) in Beijing and Shanghai concerning their career preferences, the work they intend to be doing in five years time and their views about the training that they were receiving. The sample included students from sub-degree, Bachelor and Master's degree levels in all years. Results indicated that social work is strongly linked with individual counselling and psychotherapy which is preferred over work with families and groups. Community work and resource mobilization were relatively less popular despite being the most appropriate modality for the social problems that Beijing and Shanghai face. Students show a marked preference for working in government or other large organizations. After graduation, those in degree programmes hoped to move into administration and management. Fewer students were interested in grassroots work. Many of those studying at Master's level intended to become university based social work teachers. Limitations of the research included the cross-sectional nature of the design, lack of information about the levels of motivation of social work students, and limitations to the generalizability of the findings as Shanghai and Beijing are not necessarily representative of China. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
ISSN0261-5479
2011 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.033
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2010.538672
ReferencesReferences in Scopus
DC Field
Value
dc.contributor.authorSha, W
dc.contributor.authorWong, YC
dc.contributor.authorLou, VWQ
dc.contributor.authorPearson, V
dc.contributor.authorGu, DH
dc.date.accessioned2011-07-27T02:33:29Z
dc.date.available2011-07-27T02:33:29Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractProfessional social work is a recent development in China. This article reports the results of a survey of social work students (n = 1331) in Beijing and Shanghai concerning their career preferences, the work they intend to be doing in five years time and their views about the training that they were receiving. The sample included students from sub-degree, Bachelor and Master's degree levels in all years. Results indicated that social work is strongly linked with individual counselling and psychotherapy which is preferred over work with families and groups. Community work and resource mobilization were relatively less popular despite being the most appropriate modality for the social problems that Beijing and Shanghai face. Students show a marked preference for working in government or other large organizations. After graduation, those in degree programmes hoped to move into administration and management. Fewer students were interested in grassroots work. Many of those studying at Master's level intended to become university based social work teachers. Limitations of the research included the cross-sectional nature of the design, lack of information about the levels of motivation of social work students, and limitations to the generalizability of the findings as Shanghai and Beijing are not necessarily representative of China. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
dc.description.natureLink_to_subscribed_fulltext
dc.identifier.citationSocial Work Education, 2012, v. 31 n. 1, p. 4-21 [How to Cite?]
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2010.538672
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2010.538672
dc.identifier.epage21
dc.identifier.hkuros187769
dc.identifier.hkuros204380
dc.identifier.issn0261-5479
2011 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.033
dc.identifier.issue1
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-84855863207
dc.identifier.spage4
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/136709
dc.identifier.volume31
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherRoutledge. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/02615479.asp
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdom
dc.relation.ispartofSocial Work Education
dc.relation.referencesReferences in Scopus
dc.rightsCreative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License
dc.subjectCareer Preferences
dc.subjectChina
dc.subjectSocial Work Education
dc.subjectSocial Work Students
dc.titleCareer Preferences of Social Work Students in Beijing and Shanghai
dc.typeArticle
Author Affiliations
  1. The University of Hong Kong
  2. Fudan University