When you think of a social worker, what comes to mind?
Most people are aware, at least on some level, that social work is a traditionally female-dominated profession. Even so, the fact that only 14% of the roles in the child protection workforce are taken up by men is surprising. The scale of the challenge in making social work a representative profession is therefore immense.
The first important question we need to ask ourselves as a society is: why do more men not go into social work? Unfortunately, there isn’t one easy answer. A lot of it could be to do with the stigma attached to the profession and our societal perception of social work as a whole. Many people have preconceived notions about social work: that it doesn’t pay well, that it’s not a ‘proper career’, or that the hours are too long and emotionally demanding.
However, what most people don’t think about is how a lack of male representation in professions like social work points to much more deeply-rooted, overarching social issues about what we teach our children. From a young age, we are implicitly – some would argue explicitly – taught that certain professions and skillsets are gender dependent. For example, the characteristics of a good social worker – empathy, honesty, compassion, emotional literacy – are all typically associated with women. It’s therefore no surprise that there is such a skewed representation of genders in the profession.
But why is diversity in social work so important?
According to Josh MacAlister, Chief Executive of Frontline, a social work charity, a large part of it has to do with providing children and young people with a positive role model. Social workers as a whole can act as important role models for children and young people in their most difficult times. Given that more than half of the children currently in care are boys, it becomes clear why it is so important to have more men in the social work profession who can act as positive male role models for the young people they support.
That being said, although the ‘male role model’ argument is convincing enough, I believe we need to go even further in our understanding of why representation is important. Ultimately, the social work profession needs more men, just as it needs more BAME individuals, so that it can better reflect the diversity of the communities being served.
So, how do we get there?
Achieving a more representative workforce is a challenge most, if not all, professions currently face. However, targeted recruitment drives for increased representation, while effective, do not arguably provide the best long-term solution to the apparent lack of representation. I don’t think we can ever truly address the issue of representation until we have open, honest and broad conversations about breaking down the perpetuated socio-cultural norms which view certain professions as gendered.
Frontline, a social work charity which runs a two-year practice-based training programme into children and families social work, is acutely aware of the need for increased representation, and actively encourages a broader pool of male, as well as BAME applicants. In the past, up to 24% of the Frontline programme cohort have been male, 10 points above the national average, but it’s clear that there is still some way to go in achieving a more diverse workforce.
Ultimately, what I think we need to do is get rid of the idea that social work, or any other profession for that matter, has a certain ‘look’. A good social worker is someone who has the necessary skillset as well as the drive and motivation to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children, regardless of their gender, background, or ethnicity.
If you’re interested in becoming a social worker, please check out the Frontline programme – an exciting, fully funded practice-based route into social work for outstanding individuals!
Click here to stay up-to-date with Frontline’s updates about the programme.