2003:29
Training in Social Care and Social Work/Public Administration
In May 2002, the National Agency for Higher Education was assigned to carry out an overview of two forms of training: in social care and in social work and public administration. This assignment was implemented in consultation and collaboration with the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.
The reform now proposed is to combine two present-day vocational qualifications, in social care on the one hand and social work and public administration on the other, to create a new university degree designated the ‘BSc in Social Work´. The Swedish title of socionom (graduate/qualified social worker) is well established and familiar to employers and prospective students alike. If the two qualifications are to be combined, it is vital to make use of the perspectives, knowledge and experience from course programmes in social care.
The new BSc in Social Work will be awarded after completion of course requirements totalling 140 credits. To obtain the degree, students will have to:
The current labour market is characterised by change. For graduates with degrees in social work and public administration, on the one hand, and university certificates in social care on the other, present trends mean an increasing overlap in the labour market for holders of these two qualifications. Within the actual course programmes, a similar trend is discernible.
Most graduates with qualifications in social work and social care are employed in the social services, although their labour market is broadening and they are in demand in other sectors as well. Various external factors, such as political decisions, are affecting the social services´ work; structural changes, too, have repercussions on the focus and scope of social services. It is therefore important that training should not cement occupational roles further but, rather, help to develop them.
To acquire some kinds of knowledge and skills, supplementary training is necessary. Higher education institutions are responsible for ensuring that courses offering up-to-date, relevant further education are available, and it is the task of employers to ensure that their staff can avail themselves of these courses. Moreover, both parties bear joint responsibility for devising course programmes that meet existing skills requirements and promote further development.
According to forecasts, the labour market for qualified social workers will be characterised by a shortage of trained staff over the next ten years. Holders of university certificates in social care are also scarce, but both the National Labour Market Board (AMS) and Statistics Sweden (SCB) expect the labour market for these graduates to be balanced in the future. Related course programmes conferring qualifications for a labour market that is entirely or partially the same as that for graduates in social work and public administration, on the one hand, and in social care on the other are also available. Since such programmes often lead to a general Bachelor´s or Master´s degree, they are not included in figures on the supply of skills (as opposed to vocational qualifications). These programmes are also, in some cases, relatively new and, as such, unknown to employers as yet. Their contribution of graduate staff in the social-services sector may therefore be larger than the forecasts indicate.
No main subjects are specified for vocational qualifications in the Higher Education Ordinance. When an institution´s right to hold examinations is reviewed, the quality aspects assessed are subject depth and subject breadth. The National Agency for Higher Education considers how far course programmes fulfil the objectives of the Degree Ordinance. The question of what the main subject in a course programme in social work and public administration should be thus falls outside the scope of the Agency´s investigation.
Graduates in social care often find themselves in supervisory positions relatively soon after obtaining their university certificates. Traditionally, course programmes in social care have trained the ‘front-line managers´ in care services for the elderly and disabled. Nevertheless, the discussions held to date with representatives of employers and course providers show that a university certificate in social care does not suffice for a managerial position. On the other hand, there is a consensus that course programmes in social care should give students basic knowledge about leadership.
The higher education institutions currently entitled to issue university certificates in social care must undergo a review of their right to hold examinations before they can examine graduates in social work and public administration in accordance with the new objectives. Such reviews are not required for present-day course programmes leading to degrees in social work and public administration. On the other hand, in conjunction with the National Agency for Higher Education´s follow-up of all course programmes leading to degrees in social work and public administration in 2005, the higher education institutions will have to report on the changes they have made to adjust course content to the new degree objectives.
According to the Agency´s assignment, the proposal is not permitted to entail an increase in costs for the central government.
New training
The reform now proposed is to combine two present-day vocational qualifications, in social care on the one hand and social work and public administration on the other, to create a new university degree designated the ‘BSc in Social Work´. The Swedish title of socionom (graduate/qualified social worker) is well established and familiar to employers and prospective students alike. If the two qualifications are to be combined, it is vital to make use of the perspectives, knowledge and experience from course programmes in social care.
Description of the new BSc in Social Work in the Degree Ordinance
The new BSc in Social Work will be awarded after completion of course requirements totalling 140 credits. To obtain the degree, students will have to:
- possess the knowledge, skills and ethical awareness required to perform social work at individual, group and community level
- be able to grasp and consider the interplay between individuals´ and groups´ social situation, living conditions, and physical and mental health in relation to underlying factors and other social variables
- be able to grasp and analyse social processes and problems
- be able, first, to identify and structure the means by which measures at individual, group and community level can support and bring about change, or facilitate living conditions, for individuals and groups, and, secondly, to monitor and evaluate these measures
- be able to grasp and consider the kinds of social and family circumstances that affect men´s, women´s and children´s life situation
- be able to develop and assist in preventive social work and social reform at various levels of society, and to monitor and evaluate the measures implemented
- be able to relate various types of measures taken to the legal rules and overall principles governing legislation
- have acquired the kind of knowledge that affords preparation for heading teams and the ability to collaborate with people in other occupational categories
- be capable, moreover, of maintaining a professional attitude based on self-knowledge and personal maturity.
The objectives adopted by the higher education institution concerned also apply.
Labour-market and training trends
The current labour market is characterised by change. For graduates with degrees in social work and public administration, on the one hand, and university certificates in social care on the other, present trends mean an increasing overlap in the labour market for holders of these two qualifications. Within the actual course programmes, a similar trend is discernible.
Most graduates with qualifications in social work and social care are employed in the social services, although their labour market is broadening and they are in demand in other sectors as well. Various external factors, such as political decisions, are affecting the social services´ work; structural changes, too, have repercussions on the focus and scope of social services. It is therefore important that training should not cement occupational roles further but, rather, help to develop them.
Dialogue between labour market and training
To acquire some kinds of knowledge and skills, supplementary training is necessary. Higher education institutions are responsible for ensuring that courses offering up-to-date, relevant further education are available, and it is the task of employers to ensure that their staff can avail themselves of these courses. Moreover, both parties bear joint responsibility for devising course programmes that meet existing skills requirements and promote further development.
Supply and demand
According to forecasts, the labour market for qualified social workers will be characterised by a shortage of trained staff over the next ten years. Holders of university certificates in social care are also scarce, but both the National Labour Market Board (AMS) and Statistics Sweden (SCB) expect the labour market for these graduates to be balanced in the future. Related course programmes conferring qualifications for a labour market that is entirely or partially the same as that for graduates in social work and public administration, on the one hand, and in social care on the other are also available. Since such programmes often lead to a general Bachelor´s or Master´s degree, they are not included in figures on the supply of skills (as opposed to vocational qualifications). These programmes are also, in some cases, relatively new and, as such, unknown to employers as yet. Their contribution of graduate staff in the social-services sector may therefore be larger than the forecasts indicate.
Main subject
No main subjects are specified for vocational qualifications in the Higher Education Ordinance. When an institution´s right to hold examinations is reviewed, the quality aspects assessed are subject depth and subject breadth. The National Agency for Higher Education considers how far course programmes fulfil the objectives of the Degree Ordinance. The question of what the main subject in a course programme in social work and public administration should be thus falls outside the scope of the Agency´s investigation.
Leadership
Graduates in social care often find themselves in supervisory positions relatively soon after obtaining their university certificates. Traditionally, course programmes in social care have trained the ‘front-line managers´ in care services for the elderly and disabled. Nevertheless, the discussions held to date with representatives of employers and course providers show that a university certificate in social care does not suffice for a managerial position. On the other hand, there is a consensus that course programmes in social care should give students basic knowledge about leadership.
Right to issue degrees
The higher education institutions currently entitled to issue university certificates in social care must undergo a review of their right to hold examinations before they can examine graduates in social work and public administration in accordance with the new objectives. Such reviews are not required for present-day course programmes leading to degrees in social work and public administration. On the other hand, in conjunction with the National Agency for Higher Education´s follow-up of all course programmes leading to degrees in social work and public administration in 2005, the higher education institutions will have to report on the changes they have made to adjust course content to the new degree objectives.
Resource allocation
According to the Agency´s assignment, the proposal is not permitted to entail an increase in costs for the central government.
However, in the event of the two forms of training being amalgamated, it is important that the aggregate resources devoted to them by the Government should not decrease. In the system of resource allocation, the new degree course should be classified as composed of 40% training in social care and 60% education in the social sciences.
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Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Visting address: Luntmakargatan 13 Box 7851, 103 99 Stockholm
Phone: 08-563 085 00 Fax: 08-563 085 50 Email: hsv@hsv.se
Phone: 08-563 085 00 Fax: 08-563 085 50 Email: hsv@hsv.se
