The prestige of social work from the perspective of students of social work and other helping professions

Abstract

The prestige of social work is a challenging topic for social workers. For the purpose of this study, prestige is treated as a position on a scale, which then influences the symbolic power of the holder of the profession. It is the recognition by students of the distance/proximity of frequently collaborating professions on this scale that is seen as the main benefit. 3056 students from various helping professions answered an online structured questionnaire about how they perceive the prestige of social work, compared to the other helping professions. The data confirmed the association between the field of study, students’ experience with the profession, year of study, and perceptions of the prestige of the social work profession. The overall results include the finding that social work is perceived as a profession with low prestige, however, the perceived prestige can be increased by personal experience. As progressing in their study, social work students perceive the prestige of social work as lower. The results thus revealed new challenges for educational institutions that can and should contribute to raising the prestige of social work.