Heterosexism among Social Work Students

Abstract

It cannot be assumed that social workers are immune to the negative attitudes and beliefs towards gay men or lesbians that are prevalent in society. This study examined the prevalence of heterosexism among social work students at a single Canadian university. The attitudes of students at all levels of the undergraduate programme were examined. The study found a relatively low but significant prevalence of heterosexism among the students surveyed and that these attitudes did not seem to be moderated by exposure to social work courses. This is of concern as the extent of curriculum content on issues related to gay men and lesbians provided by Canadian schools of social work is often limited. Implications for curriculum design and teaching methods within social work are discussed.