{"id":{"repo_id":"bu","oai_identifier":"oai:open.bu.edu:2144/52945"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/bu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/52945","repository":{"repo_id":"bu","name":"Boston University","base_url":"https://open.bu.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"“I can’t imagine you being a social worker without upholding social justice:” an exploration of how social justice is modeled in an MSW program","abstract":"Social work is a helping profession that centers social justice as one of its six core pillars. Social workers are tasked to uphold social justice by promoting social change and challenging injustices through their work with the most vulnerable and oppressed populations in our society. Hence, social work education has a unique responsibility to adequately prepare social workers for their work. Social justice is implicitly and explicitly present in social work education programs through standards, norms, and values. Despite its centrality to the social work profession and education, a unified definition of social justice does not exist and there is limited understanding of how concepts of social justice are modeled to students through the two main content delivery modes: (i) The classroom (ii) The placement (practicum). To address this limited understanding, a qualitative research design that is rooted in Institutional Theory was employed. Data were collected from 15 Master of Social Work (MSW) students, 10 MSW faculty, and five MSW placement supervisors from one school of social work in the Northeast region of the United States. Three themes were created utilizing Reflexive Thematic Analysis to explicate how social justice is modeled to students in one MSW program: I. Systems and Policies Signal Commitment to Social Justice; II. Experiencing and Witnessing Injustices Based on Identity; and III. Showing How to Do Social Justice in Action Develops Understanding and Skills. The themes highlight that systems and policies set the tone for commitment to social justice, but students, faculty, and supervisors experience and witness injustices. Nonetheless, showing social justice in action develops students’ understanding and skills of social justice. Institutional Theory supports the framework that standards, norms, and values inform the explicit and implicit curriculum which enforces systems and policies, experiences, and actions. Implications point to intervention on the program level to implement systems and policies that explicitly and implicitly center students, faculty, and supervisors in order to eliminate or minimize experiences with injustices, leaving opportunities to enact social justice in action, which develops understanding and skills.","abstract_html":"Social work is a helping profession that centers social justice as one of its six core pillars. Social workers are tasked to uphold social justice by promoting social change and challenging injustices through their work with the most vulnerable and oppressed populations in our society. Hence, social work education has a unique responsibility to adequately prepare social workers for their work. Social justice is implicitly and explicitly present in social work education programs through standards, norms, and values. Despite its centrality to the social work profession and education, a unified definition of social justice does not exist and there is limited understanding of how concepts of social justice are modeled to students through the two main content delivery modes: (i) The classroom (ii) The placement (practicum). To address this limited understanding, a qualitative research design that is rooted in Institutional Theory was employed. Data were collected from 15 Master of Social Work (MSW) students, 10 MSW faculty, and five MSW placement supervisors from one school of social work in the Northeast region of the United States. Three themes were created utilizing Reflexive Thematic Analysis to explicate how social justice is modeled to students in one MSW program: I. Systems and Policies Signal Commitment to Social Justice; II. Experiencing and Witnessing Injustices Based on Identity; and III. Showing How to Do Social Justice in Action Develops Understanding and Skills. The themes highlight that systems and policies set the tone for commitment to social justice, but students, faculty, and supervisors experience and witness injustices. Nonetheless, showing social justice in action develops students’ understanding and skills of social justice. Institutional Theory supports the framework that standards, norms, and values inform the explicit and implicit curriculum which enforces systems and policies, experiences, and actions. Implications point to intervention on the program level to implement systems and policies that explicitly and implicitly center students, faculty, and supervisors in order to eliminate or minimize experiences with injustices, leaving opportunities to enact social justice in action, which develops understanding and skills.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Vugić, Lea"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Lombe, Margaret"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026","date_published":"2026","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:25:35Z","subjects":["Social work"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2144/52945","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Lombe, Margaret"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Vugić, Lea"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2026-05-14T16:04:23Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-05-14T16:04:23Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2026"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis/Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social work"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2144/52945"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["2026"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Social work is a helping profession that centers social justice as one of its six core pillars. Social workers are tasked to uphold social justice by promoting social change and challenging injustices through their work with the most vulnerable and oppressed populations in our society. Hence, social work education has a unique responsibility to adequately prepare social workers for their work. Social justice is implicitly and explicitly present in social work education programs through standards, norms, and values. Despite its centrality to the social work profession and education, a unified definition of social justice does not exist and there is limited understanding of how concepts of social justice are modeled to students through the two main content delivery modes: (i) The classroom (ii) The placement (practicum). To address this limited understanding, a qualitative research design that is rooted in Institutional Theory was employed. Data were collected from 15 Master of Social Work (MSW) students, 10 MSW faculty, and five MSW placement supervisors from one school of social work in the Northeast region of the United States. Three themes were created utilizing Reflexive Thematic Analysis to explicate how social justice is modeled to students in one MSW program: I. Systems and Policies Signal Commitment to Social Justice; II. Experiencing and Witnessing Injustices Based on Identity; and III. Showing How to Do Social Justice in Action Develops Understanding and Skills. The themes highlight that systems and policies set the tone for commitment to social justice, but students, faculty, and supervisors experience and witness injustices. Nonetheless, showing social justice in action develops students’ understanding and skills of social justice. Institutional Theory supports the framework that standards, norms, and values inform the explicit and implicit curriculum which enforces systems and policies, experiences, and actions. Implications point to intervention on the program level to implement systems and policies that explicitly and implicitly center students, faculty, and supervisors in order to eliminate or minimize experiences with injustices, leaving opportunities to enact social justice in action, which develops understanding and skills."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["“I can’t imagine you being a social worker without upholding social justice:” an exploration of how social justice is modeled in an MSW program"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Lombe, Margaret"],"dc:creator":["Vugić, Lea"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2026-05-14T16:04:23Z"],"dc:date.available":["2026-05-14T16:04:23Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2026"],"dc:description":["2026"],"dc:description.abstract":["Social work is a helping profession that centers social justice as one of its six core pillars. Social workers are tasked to uphold social justice by promoting social change and challenging injustices through their work with the most vulnerable and oppressed populations in our society. Hence, social work education has a unique responsibility to adequately prepare social workers for their work. Social justice is implicitly and explicitly present in social work education programs through standards, norms, and values. Despite its centrality to the social work profession and education, a unified definition of social justice does not exist and there is limited understanding of how concepts of social justice are modeled to students through the two main content delivery modes: (i) The classroom (ii) The placement (practicum). To address this limited understanding, a qualitative research design that is rooted in Institutional Theory was employed. Data were collected from 15 Master of Social Work (MSW) students, 10 MSW faculty, and five MSW placement supervisors from one school of social work in the Northeast region of the United States. Three themes were created utilizing Reflexive Thematic Analysis to explicate how social justice is modeled to students in one MSW program: I. Systems and Policies Signal Commitment to Social Justice; II. Experiencing and Witnessing Injustices Based on Identity; and III. Showing How to Do Social Justice in Action Develops Understanding and Skills. The themes highlight that systems and policies set the tone for commitment to social justice, but students, faculty, and supervisors experience and witness injustices. Nonetheless, showing social justice in action develops students’ understanding and skills of social justice. Institutional Theory supports the framework that standards, norms, and values inform the explicit and implicit curriculum which enforces systems and policies, experiences, and actions. Implications point to intervention on the program level to implement systems and policies that explicitly and implicitly center students, faculty, and supervisors in order to eliminate or minimize experiences with injustices, leaving opportunities to enact social justice in action, which develops understanding and skills."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/2144/52945"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:subject":["Social work"],"dc:title":["“I can’t imagine you being a social worker without upholding social justice:” an exploration of how social justice is modeled in an MSW program"],"dc:type":["Thesis/Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:25:35Z"}