Social work doctorates in the UK

Jonathan Scourfield

Cardiff School of Social Sciences, UK

Two studies

Study 1: A web-based survey of doctoral students – both PhD and prof doc - and search of the Index to Theses (funded by SWAP)

Study 2: An email survey and telephone interviews with professional doctorate programme directors (unfunded)

Study 1, part 1: The social work doctoral student population Web-based survey. The aim was to describe the

doctoral student population and the topics being researched.

Demographics: 32% male, 68% female 88% white Age profile

Age profile and mode of studyAge N %

Under 30 9 7

30-39 42 31

40-49 44 32

50-59 30 22

60+ 10 7

There was a significant association between age and mode of study.

73% of respondents are studying part-time

Employment and funding

Number of years Frequency Percentage

1-5 25 18

6-10 23 17

11-15 19 14

16+ 40 29

N/A 23 17

Funding:

51% had their doctoral study funded by some source or other, 37 (27%) were self-funded and 23 (17%) reported a combination of the two

Years of social work experience

Type of doctorate

University

Pre-1992 Post-1992

Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

PhD by research

26 79 48 52

Professional doctorate

5 15 43 47

PhD by publication

2 6 1 1

Topic of doctorate Children, young people, families 43% Adult service users 20% Organisation, management of personal social services

13% Knowledge, theories, skills and/or values 7% Methods or settings 7% Education, training and professional development 5%

Research approach 57% reported that they were undertaking an evaluation

of policy or practice 22% thought their doctoral project was primarily a

contribution to academic theorising about social work 10% viewed their research project as an action research

project where the engagement of local workers and/or service users in the research process was the most important aspect of the study’s impact

Research methodology

Methodology Frequency Percentage

Primarily qualitative 76 56

Mixed method 41 30

Primarily quantitative 7 5

It is not empirical research 6 4

Satisfaction Highly satisfied 30% Satisfied 48% 13% neutral 5% unhappy

Arguably SW doctoral students have higher levels of satisfaction than the PGR body as a whole (c.f. Post-graduate Experience Survey)

Study 1, part 2: Completed theses Search strategy – Index to Theses relevant subject

categories and the phrase ‘social work’ 1997-2006 An average rate of 38 social work thesis completions

each year

Topic and method Topics

34% Children, young people, families 19% Methods or settings 15% Adult service users 14% Knowledge, theories, skills and/or values 9% Organisation, management of personal social services 8% Education, training, professional development

Methods 40% Primarily qualitative 8% Primarily quantitative 18% Mixed method 34% Not known

Study 2: Professional doctorate programmes The aim of the research: to map the provision of PD

programmes Research methods – email survey and telephone

interviews

Mapping PD programmes How many programmes and where? How long have they been running? How many students are there? Nomenclature Structure What is working well? Relationship between research and practice

How many programmes and where?

14 universities: five pre-92 (‘old’) and nine post-92 (‘new’)

How long have they been running?

Year started Number of universities

No data 2

1997 1

1998 1

2000 1

2001 1

2002 2

2003 1

2004 3

2006 1

2007 1

How many students are there?Total 72

Mean 6

Mode 3

Median 3

Only two in double figures (17 and 22 respectively)

What are the degrees called?

Name of degree Number of universities

Doctor of Social Work 4

Professional Doctorate in Social Work 2

Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care (or similar title)

4

Doctorate in Professional Studies (Health and Social Care)

1

Doctorate in Professional Studies 1

Doctor of Professional Practice 1

SocScD in Applied Social Research 1

Structure – a full list of responses A systematic review; an empirical/field research study and a practice-based

project - all about 30,000 words in length. 120 Masters credits: 10,000 word dissertation pilot study; 45,000 word thesis;

5,000 word assessment of thesis outcomes 160 credits at M level plus 40,000 word project 3x7000 word papers plus a 60,000 word thesis 2 practice analyses (about 10-15,000 words each) and a research proposal (5,000) plus

research thesis (60,000 words) 2 years of M-level research methods + 50,000 thesis 3 taught years - with 3 modules (and 60 credits) each year plus a dissertation of 40-

60,000 words 4 modules plus 40,000 thesis 8 modules, 4 of which have to be passed at D level, plus 50,000 word thesis Part 1: Module 1 Review of Previous Learning and APEL claim plus Module 2 Planning a

Practitioner Research Programme. Part 2 Work-Based Project/s - usually 1 large one, sometimes 2 smaller ones

4 modules plus 50,000 word thesis 6 modules plus 30,000 word thesis Phase 1: 3 essays/ project (17-18,000 words); Phase 2: project (18-20000 words); Phase

3: thesis (35-45000 words) Stage one consists of 2 M-level ‘macro-modules’: research methods (70 credits) and

professional development (50 Credits) plus one 60 credit D-level module on project development, design and management. Stage two is a supervised work-based research project: 50,000 words

What seems to be working well?Collaboration with other disciplines

Cohort identity

Relationship between research and practiceLittle evidence, but....

Most programmes seem to be applied research doctorates rather than practice-based doctorates as in clinical psychology

Access to the research Both studies have been published in BJSW advance

access http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/papbyrecent.dtl Scourfield, J. and Maxwell, N. (2009) Social work

doctoral students in the UK: A web-based survey and search of the Index to Theses. British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn139.

Scourfield, J. (2008) Professional doctorate programmes in social work: The current state of provision in the UK. British Journal of Social Work, Advance Access, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn139.