“My Anxiety Was Through the Roof”: The Gendered Nature of Financial Stress and Its Impact on Mental Health and Well-Being for Women When Undertaking Social Work Placements

Abstract

Social work practice is not a highly paid or high-status occupation. The historical roots of social work lie in charity work directed toward social needs and poverty, with much of this work previously women's unpaid work. This set the stage for a norm of unpaid labor in the predominantly female occupation. Women who are mature-aged, lone parents, carers and on low income have continuously been the numerical majority within social work. As such, the unpaid field placement disproportionately affects women. This article provides a gendered analysis of qualitative data obtained from women participants in a national survey of social work students from five Australian universities (n = 409) following 1000 h of field education placement. Open-ended questions aimed to explore the experiences of financial stress from lengthy unpaid placements on the mental health and well-being of social work students. The findings contribute to a growing body of feminist literature critiquing the current field education model and argue for significant reflection, flexibility, and change. To meet the collective social work goals of social justice and dismantling systemic oppression, a new placement model is needed that is both inclusive and sustainable.