The Transitional Experiences of Social Work Practitioners Working in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of social work practitioners making a career move from front-line practice into academia. Six participants engaged in a focus group and subsequent individual semi-structured interviews to reflect on their transitional experiences. From this, factors that helped or hindered the transition were identified and pertinent themes were generated, explored, and analyzed. The paper concludes that meaningful relationships and having a sense of belonging are crucial to successful transition from practice to academia. Relationships are considered integral to both professional identity and positive experiences, particularly within the first year of transition, though their importance is often overlooked by the employing higher education institution.

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