Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Social Work Licensure: An Exploratory Study

Professional regulation, namely licensing, has been a dynamic source of debate for the social work profession. Amid this debate, schools of social work are increasingly considering licensing factors as a mechanism to gauge programmatic outcomes. However, nominal literature exists on social work curricula and licensing. Further, few published articles explore social work licensing from the perspective of those most affected: social work students. This exploratory study used a scaled questionnaire, with supplemental open- ended questions, to examine undergraduate students' (N=207) perceptions about social work licensing. Data from this study suggest that although undergraduate students are confident in their ability to pass the exam, they are ambiguous about the process for taking the exam and need additional preparation. After a review of the literature, this article explicates key findings from the study, discusses implications for undergraduate social work education, and identifies relevant areas for future research.