Research Note—A Snapshot of the Tightening Academic Job Market for Social Work Doctoral Students

Abstract

To understand recent changes in the social work academic job market, we gathered information on both open social work tenure-track positions and doctoral candidates’ experiences on the academic job market to provide an approximation of the overall 2017–2018 academic market in social work. About two-thirds of both PhD and DSW candidates on the job market sought tenure track faculty positions. We found that, unlike in the past when there were fewer doctoral candidates on the market than positions available, there was an oversupply of doctoral graduates, with many PhD and DSW candidates who wanted tenure track faculty positions in 2017–2018 not obtaining one. In addition, about one-seventh of both PhD and DSW candidates had taken clinical or macro practice positions.