Exploring the state of religious diversity in social work education

Abstract

This study examines the perceptions of religious discrimination in social work education among a religiously heterogeneous, national sample of professionally affiliated graduate students. The results indicate that theologically liberal and mainline Christians perceive low levels of religious discrimination to exist, on par with those who report no faith affiliation. As posited, however, evangelical and theologically conservative Christians reported significantly higher levels of religious discrimination. Relationships between orthodox beliefs, spiritual motivation and perceptions of religious discrimination are also explored. The implications of these findings are discussed as they intersect the NASW Code of Ethics and the CSQW Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards.