The construction of social work leadership development: A qualitative study.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to examine how social work leaders define the construct of leadership within the profession. Specifically, this qualitative study utilized a purposive sampling technique to identify 18 master's-level social work leaders who were employed in the non-profit, governmental agency, and educational settings. An interview protocol was developed and utilized to conduct semi-structured interviews with the 18 participants. The interviews were conducted in person at work sites and by telephone. Axial and open coding techniques were used as the primary method of data analysis. An independent second coder was employed in order to increase the validity and trustworthiness of the study. Analysis of the data revealed that social work leadership is a widely defined, gendered, and culturally dependent construct. Social workers tend to identify leaders in the historical sense, while remaining ambivalent in some cases about self-identifying as a leader. Social workers perceived their unique contribution to leadership strengths to include systems thinking and integrity. Seeing oneself as a leader was a function of gender, class, race, life experience, and professional socialization. Leadership identity is formed in a context of barriers, supports, education, employment, and life experiences. Leaders reflected on setbacks, challenges, discrimination, and personal failures. In the process of resolving these conflicts and overcoming personal difficulties, participants affirmed their identity as leaders. Such information would be helpful to develop leaders in overcoming similar struggles. There is a gap between calls for leadership within the profession and the notable absence of "leadership" in the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) competencies and practice behaviors. Progress has been made in the recent development of social work leadership programs that are specific to particular fields of practice such as child welfare, higher education, and gerontology. Implications for practice include a stronger emphasis on leadership as a core component of social work education, infusion of leadership content into undergraduate and graduate curricula, and the continued need for the development of the next generation of social work leaders.