The changing gender profile of applicants to qualifying social work training in the UK

Abstract

The idea that social work is a gendered profession is not a new one. The subject was first explored by Walton in 1975 in his ground-breaking study of women and social work. Since then, a number of research studies have examined the continuing significance of gender for entry to social work training and for career progression in social work. What this paper does is to bring the discussion up-to-date, considering the current context of entry to social work training at a time when numbers applying to train as social workers have fallen drastically. We will argue not only that gender remains critical in the decision to embark on a career in social work, but that as numbers applying fall, so social work is likely to revert to its former status as a 'women's profession'.