INTEREST IN WORKING WITH THE ELDERLY: A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY OF GRADUATING SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS

The article presents a cross-national study of social work students' interest in working with the elderly, based on a sample of 679 graduating BSW students from 7 countries: Australia, Brazil, England, Germany, Hungary, Israel, and the United States. The findings among all the national cohorts show that the motivation to work with the elderly was lower than motivation to work with any other age group and, moreover, that it was equally low in most of the countries. They indicate that low motivation to work with the elderly is not limited to 1 or 2 countries but exists in various parts of the globe. The findings support the growing concern that the social work profession may not be able to meet its obligations to the aging society.