Research Productivity of Social Work PhD Candidates Entering the Academic Job Market: An Analysis of Pre- and Postadmission Productivity Indicators

ABSTRACT

Besides traditional admissions criteria, research-intensive social work PhD programs may rely on personal interviews and curriculum vitae or resumes to gauge prior research experience to determine applicants’ fit for the research-related productivity expected in their programs. Case record review of social work PhD candidates (n=56) entering the job market (fall 2007 to spring 2016) aimed to explore preadmission demographic, academic, and research productivity characteristics as correlates of postadmission research productivity and time-to-degree. Race and ethnicity, residency, master’s degree type, Graduate Record Examination analytical score, and preadmission research productivity were significantly, yet differentially, related to postadmission research productivity. Only master’s degree type was significantly related to time-to-degree. Implications for prospective applicants and admissions committees at research-intensive social work schools are discussed.     

The Organizational Context of Faith-Based Community Organizing: Effects on Member Civic Engagement

This article explores the congregation as a conduit for civic engagement. Specifically examined are the effects of participation in congregations engaged in faith-based community organizing (FBCO). Civic engagement is examined by comparing FBCO-affiliated congregation members to non-FBCO-affiliated congregation members, local school participants, neighborhood association members, and those without such affiliations. Findings reveal that those engaged in FBCO evidence higher rates of civic engagement than members of the other groups. Implications for the field and future study are discussed.     

Out of the Blue: the dark side of creative enterprise

This paper draws on an archive of media texts that document the making of the film Out of the Blue. Within these media accounts are statements made by a group of residents resisting the film project, and the film‐makers responding to this resistance. We employ a Foucauldian informed discourse analysis to read these statements of resistance as a starting point to examine the power relations within contemporary knowledge generation processes of creative industries. We theorise creative industries as a discursive object located at the intersection of three discursive formations: ‘creativity’, ‘enterprise’ and ‘place’. Through analysing the particular place–identities of Aramoana engaged by the resisting residents and the film‐makers, we are able to suggest how this film project came to be discursively constituted as creative enterprise. In so doing, we find that the resisting residents’ statements work to disrupt the taken‐for‐granted ‘goodness’ of film enterprise, and creative industries more generally.     

Adult obesity prevalence and state policymaking in the United States: Is problem severity associated with more policies?

This study explores the relationship between adult obesity prevalence and obesity-related state policymaking in the United States. We examine whether 2009 obesity prevalence and the change in prevalence between 2000 and 2009 are associated with obesity-related state laws and regulations introduced or enacted between 2009 and 2011. Policies that exclusively target youth are eliminated from our analysis. Adult obesity prevalence increased in all 50 states over the decade studied, with a slight decrease in Washington, DC. Increases in prevalence are significantly associated with fewer policies in the South and Midwest Census regions and the East North Central and South Atlantic Census divisions. Findings suggest the need for greater advocacy and an opportunity for obesity to rise on state policy agendas.     

Widening the Lens: The Efficacy of the Case Method in Helping Direct Practice MSW Students Understand and Apply Mezzo and Macro Dimensions of Practice

This study tested the effectiveness of the case method as a teaching and learning tool to help direct practice (micro) graduate students to more fully incorporate the mezzo and macro dimensions in clinical situations. Participants for this study included 115 MSW students enrolled in a second‐year clinical concentration who, as a requirement of the program, took an integrative seminar that was taught using the case method. Students completed a pre‐ and post‐test that measured the importance students placed on selected mezzo and macro dimensions of practice. The study also assessed whether the case method influenced students' perceived capacity for critical thinking, vertical integration of first‐ with second‐year content, and understanding the program's theoretical model. Results showed significant increases in several areas assessed. The paper begins by tracing the historical and contemporary writings in the social work literature on integrated learning, and discusses the impact of these trends on the learning process. Ideas on how to build integrative opportunities or methods of instruction into the social work curriculum are then explored. The case method is advocated as a viable tool in teaching with empirical evidence presented to support its efficacy.