Alternative model for social work undergraduate training

Abstract

Considering participation as a core element for Social Work practice, this article analyses engagement of Social Work students from a public participation perspective. Youth faces specific challenges nowadays due to the complexities of our contemporary society, among which, the new forms of participation in public life. Overall, participation as a dimension of democracies has to be rethought and Bologna process has made it possible through new participatory ways of interaction in the higher education sphere. A student engagement questionnaire was used. For a total known population of n = 153 Social Work undergraduate students at ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal), a stratified simple random sampling was applied with 95% confidence level and 4% margin of error, leading to a total sample of n = 120. Most of the participants are female (83%) with ages between 18–25 (81%). Results show different levels of student participation and forms of interaction with the university, among others. Differences arise when data stratification is applied according to the year of studies in which the participants are enrolled and their level of involvement in representative bodies. Implications for Social Work Education are discussed.