Opportunities and challenges of a global profession: an international perspective

This chapter presents material about the international context within which social work has developed. Social work is a global profession but one which shows considerable variation in its history, education and practices between countries, posing particular challenges for transnational social workers. The chapter questions the extent to which the global definition and international ethical code and education standards are widely understood or applied, weakening their possible utility for transnational social workers. The chapter goes on to acknowledge that many social problems are international in nature and that social workers would recognise the issues and client groups common across national borders. However, the way that services are organised and the expected responses of social workers show significant variations between countries, with implications for local practices. Finally, the chapter identifies some of the commonly reported strengths of transnational social workers but argues that these are often undervalued due to their positioning as incomers to a system and, therefore, as learners.

Conclusion

This chapter summarises the recurring themes and lessons from the preceding substantive chapters and reflects upon their implications. It draws together the different issues, laws and culture in social work across the five countries examined, and compares the country-specific challenges raised in the chapters. The editors make recommendations for how the social work profession can take a more active role in the transition of Transnational Social Workers, and highlight good practice in preceding chapters. Finally, they comment on the need for more research in the area, including with service users.

Social work mobility in Europe: a case study from Ireland

Social work has been viewed as one of the most nation-specific of the professions, ‘being closely tied up with national traditions, mentalities and institutions’ (Kornbeck, 2004, p 146). In addition, the political imperatives of national governments, austerity measures and managerialism drive approaches to service delivery which may supersede social work’s professional priorities. This militates against an automatic or easy transfer of professional knowledge from one country to another. In spite of this, there has been an enduring interest in developing international forms of social work that transcend national borders (Gray and Fook, 2004; Lyons et al, 2012). In this chapter, we present a case study of social worker mobility as it has evolved from the establishment of the first national social work registration body in the Republic of Ireland in 1997 with a particular focus on data from 2004-13 capturing the years leading up to, and in the aftermath of, the global financial crisis of 2008. We contrast this with the situation in Northern Ireland (NI), part of the UK and a separate and distinct political and legal entity with its own policies and practices. We draw on statistical and descriptive data provided by Irish social work registration bodies (NSWQB 1997-2011; CORU established in 2011 and NISCC, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council established in 2001) to illustrate (i) how sensitive contemporary mobility patterns are to changing economic and political factors; (ii) how rapidly patterns of mobility change and (iii) how much more mired in complexity European social work mobility is likely to be if the European project itself fractures, as is possible following the Brexit referendum vote in the UK.

Readiness and regulation: perspectives of Canadian stakeholders on the labour mobility of internationally educated social workers

This chapter synthesises the data from two knowledge exchange fora where the findings of a four-year research study funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) were shared with, and subsequently responded to by, social work employers and provincial regulators as well as internationally educated social workers. The key themes of knowledge, values, and skill transfer, cultural adaptations, and understanding of the Canadian social welfare system align with the priorities of migrant social workers themselves (Pullen Sansfaçon et al, 2014), suggesting a congruence of central concerns. At the same time, tensions exist between the actual, lived experiences of the social workers and the expectations and practices of the stakeholder group. In this chapter we analyse these points of convergence and divergence, shaped as they are by Canadian social welfare’s prevailing neoliberal ideology and its structural manifestations brought to bear on social work service employers, supervisors, and regulatory bodies.

In search of better opportunities: transnational social workers in the UK navigating the maze of global and social mobility

Social workers are increasingly becoming global professionals, both in utilising their professional qualifications as a means to achieve international mobility, and in the expectation of gaining an internationally transferable set of skills. However, there is a continued dilemma in defining such professional international identity due to contradictory processes of ‘indigenisation’, or the extent to which social work practice fits local contexts; ‘universalism’, finding commonalities across divergent contexts; and ‘imperialism’ where western world-views are privileged over local and Indigenous cultural perspectives (Gray, 2005). Many regard social work to be especially context-sensitive in that a good understanding of language and cultural clues is an essential element in the ability of workers to perform their work effectively. In that sense, while global professional mobility facilitates transnational social work (Hanna and Lyons, 2014), social work is not yet a global ‘common project’ and clear differences remain at the level of training, qualifications and practice (Weiss-Gal and Welbourne, 2008; Hussein, 2011, 2014).

A complicated welcome: social workers navigate policy, organisational contexts and sociocultural dynamics following migration to Canada

Canada is promoted as a land of opportunity, with its natural beauty purportedly matched by the generosity of its people. Since 1994, Canada has been ranked in the top 10 places to live in the world, and in 2013 it placed third in the global ‘better life index’, recognised for its comfortable standard of living, low mortality rate, solid education and health systems, and low crime rate (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2013). It is a promising option for migrant professionals looking to leave their home countries for a variety of reasons related to social, political and economic conditions. This chapter reports on the experiences of 44 social workers who undertook their social work education outside Canada and migrated to Canada with the intent of continuing to practise social work. We bring analysis to three key areas experienced as problematic: policy, including immigration, recognition of foreign credentials, and registration with the licensing body; organisational context, including issues related to the search for employment and process of hiring; and socio-cultural dynamics, the more subtle relations required to ‘fit in’ and feelings of ‘difference’ in relation to one’s colleagues. The findings for each of these are discussed in detail below, drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986).

Consistency and change: internationally educated social workers compare interpretations and approaches in Canada and their countries of origin

Every year, a number of social workers who have studied and obtained their qualifications abroad immigrate to Canada. They do so to start a new life and pursue their careers in one of the Canadian provinces (Brown et al, 2015; Pullen Sansfaçon et al, 2012). However, even with the ‘Global Qualifying Standards’ (International Federation of Social Workers [IFSW], 2015), a document that recognises the increased labour mobility within the profession and aims for consistency within and between the different qualifications, social work still needs to adapt to local variations and is considered highly dependent on the cultural and socio-political context where it is practised (Fouché et al, 2013; Beddoe et al, 2012; Hussein et al, 2010; Welbourne et al, 2007). This specific social work imperative led us to investigate the processes by which transnational social workers adapt to new work contexts in Canada and, more specifically, to explore issues related to knowledge transfer in different practice contexts, and to further investigate how social workers really adapt to local variations.

Transnational social workers and the Australian labour market

This chapter focuses on the position of overseas trained social workers and international graduates of Australian social work programmes in the Australian labour market. It draws on the broader literature on skilled migration, diversity management and labour force trends to examine these dynamics in relation to how they may mediate the employment experiences of transnational social workers. Attention is drawn to the importance of, not only formal recognition of qualifications, but also informal recognition in the labour market in order to optimise employment outcomes for transnational social workers. The chapter concludes by outlining a research agenda to address the paucity of data on transnational social workers in Australia and to build understanding of employers’ perspectives on recruiting social workers from overseas.

Transnational social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand

While much has been written about social worker migration to the northern hemisphere, prior to the current decade little was known about the experiences of social workers, with professional qualifications gained elsewhere, who were practising in Aotearoa New Zealand. The cultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand brings particular challenges to transnational social workers, and their professional perspectives were little understood. Both qualitative and quantitative strategies were used in a three-phase project to gain greater insight. The findings provided understanding into the nature of the transitional experience for migrant professionals and new vantage points on views of social work as practised in different contexts. We identify perceptions reflecting ‘enduring professional dislocation’ arising from limits to the portability of any ‘universal’ constructs of social work and demonstrating the need for structured support and education for transnational social workers.

New Public Management, migrant professionals and labour mobility: possibilities for social justice social work?

Social work labour is increasingly mobile and global, as are neoliberal policy and management models such as New Public Management. These global processes overlap with local contexts to create and limit possibilities for social-justice-directed social work practice. Drawing on qualitative case study data collected in Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand, this chapter: 1) briefly sketches the history of colonialism and immigration that shaped, and shape, these four countries; 2) discusses the standardising influence of New Public Management and managerialism on social work practice possibilities in the four countries; analyses, in particular, the increasing use of immigrant ‘volunteer’ labour and other forms of unpaid labour, including student placements and internships, as a response to ongoing under-funding of social services and policies of ‘permanent’ austerity; and 3) explores implications for practice and possibilities for liberatory social work practice.