This presentation will discuss trends in the social work academic job market and discuss how doctoral program directors can assist their students with career preparation. In this session, we will cover the shifts towards a more competitive social work academic job market, the growing mismatch between doctoral students' job desires and availability of positions, what the "typical" Ph.D. portfolio looks like when beginning their job search, and specific ways that doctoral program directors can help students prepare for the type of academic career they desire.
Dr. Elizabeth Lightfoot, Director and Foundation Professor Arizona State University
Elizabeth Lightfoot is a Professor and the Director of the School of Social Work at Arizona State University. Prior to assuming this new position, she was the Ph.D. Program Director at the University of Minnesota for 15 years, where she advised 25 Ph.D. students. She previously served as the President of GADE and has published frequently on social work doctoral education. She has been inducted into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and is the previous recipient of the GADE Award for Educational Leadership in Doctoral Education.
Dr. Cynthia Franklin, Professor in Mental Health in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin
Cynthia Franklin, Ph.D, LCSW-S is the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin where she served as the past Associate Dean for Doctoral Education. Dr. Franklin is an international expert on solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) and school social work and school mental health services. Her career has been devoted to advances in practice and research on SFBT with the aim of preparing school social workers and other school mental health professionals for practice in schools. She served as the Past President of GADE and is a member of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Franklin was named one of the 100 most Influential contemporary social work faculty (Journal of Social Service Research, 2019) and received the Gary Lee Shaffer award for academic contributions to the field of school social work. She was also selected as a Social Work Pioneer by the National Association of Social Workers.