INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL
WORKERS IN ENGLAND:
CHALLENGES AND WAYS
FORWARD
Shereen Hussein, King’s College London
Cathrine Clarke, General Social Care Council
ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION

Findings form national research on international
social workers in England, funded by the
Department of Health
Trends and profile
 Views of international social workers in England


Update from the General Social Care Council
(GSCC)
Recent developments
 Complexities in recognising social work qualifications
from over 80 countries

ABOUT THE RESEARCH
Builds on a national study funded by the
Department of Health examining the
contribution of international care workers in
England
 This strand focuses on the experience of
international social workers
 Draws on additional data obtained through an
online survey and a focus group with newly
arrived international social workers

DATA AND PARTICIPANTS
GSCC register of social workers in England who
qualified outside the UK up to end of October
2008 (7200 records)
 Recent applications and registration data during
2008 and 2009
 In-depth interviews with 18 international social
workers working in England
 Findings of an online survey related to 43
international social workers
 Focus group discussion with 7 newly arrived
international social workers

BRIEF SUMMARY OF PROFILE

In October 2008, around 8% of social workers in
England had qualified outside of the UK

No estimate can be obtained for international social
workers who qualified in the UK
32% qualified in two countries: Australia and
South Africa
 Followed by 13% from the US and 12% from
India
 International social workers are significantly
younger than UK-qualified social workers and
include more men (particularly from certain
regions)

RECENT TRENDS
Since 2004, Australia, South Africa, US and
India remain top four sending countries
 However, a steady increase is observed for EU
countries, particularly A8
 Last two years saw an increased volume of
applications from the EU

In 2009 number of EU applications increased by 49%
from 2008
 Registrations for EU applicants increased by 36% for
the same period


During the same period applications from outside
the EU slightly declined by 2%
International social workers perspectives




Only 14% reported having ‘great deal’ or ‘major’ difficulties
to get their qualifications recognised; most of them refer to
experience 5 years or more old.
Major ‘challenges’ while working in the UK is that social
work does not offer very good career progression
opportunities. This was followed by ‘limited social life’.
Understanding the English culture; being left out of
decision making and own culture being not understood by
colleagues and employers each was reported by almost a
fifth of participants
Two thirds of participants indicated a medium to high level
of mobility

As indicated by their willingness to move sector/country within
the next 3 years
Main differences in practice
Over half (52%) felt that social work practice in
the UK is ‘very’ different from that at their home
countries; and 40% felt it’s a ‘bit’ different.
 ‘Differences’ included:






Availability and types of services
Nature of practice (preventive vs. reactive)
Structure and regulation (positives and negatives)
Resources (government vs. charitable funding)
Social work image
Examples of differences in practice




A lot more structured regarding national procedures in
Britain than in Germany. A lot more staff turnover in xx
which leads to insufficient relationship building with
clients. (Germany)
Starting from the historical background, systems and social
& cultural differences, to legislation and methodology of
implementation, pay rates, approaches, availability of
services. Basically, everything is different.’ (Romania)
In Australia Social Workers are held in high regard and
one is never reluctant to say what they do.’ (Australia)
‘The level of deprivation and poverty is a lot higher in
South Africa. Different needs and challenges to face i.e. an
issue like HIV is not a major concern in the UK.’ (South
Africa)
Importance of team work
“Building up a good working relationship with your
colleagues who you can for information, you
know, it’s a gold mine. So it’s important that you
don’t isolate yourself. Like you get involved with
the team quickly and build up good relationships
that they can support you and then, you know,
coming form Canada I come with certain
attitudes and skills and stuff that benefit them
as well. So, it’s kind of a two-way thing.”
(Canadian social worker)
The GSCC efforts and perspective
Increasing levels of applications from within
Europe particularly Poland and Germany.
 Change of comparator to the degree in 2009


The care council introduced a minimum of 130 days
supervised and assessed practice
Possible effect on qualifications obtained from
certain (African) countries
 New, shorter application forms
 Aptitude tests and interviews

Key Challenges
How to measure the quality and relevance of
supervised and assessed practice
 European social work qualification frameworks
and workforce contexts:



Academic levels


Case studies of Poland, German and the Netherlands
Professional activities are placed over and above the
academic content
Compensation measures

Make up the gaps through an approved training plan
Language
 Temporary social workers

Opportunities and future plans
Diverse workforce
 Varied experience
 Knowledge transfer and international learning

Views from different social and political contexts
 ‘thinking outside the box’

Steps to ‘smooth’ the process
 Induction and training



Initial and continuous
Employer and peer support
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND
FURTHER READINGS
We are grateful to the funder, the Department of
Health, Social Care Workforce Initiative, to the GSCC
for providing necessary data and for all participants
Hussein S., Stevens M. and Manthorpe J. (2010)
International Social Care Workers in England:
Profile, Motivations, experiences and Future
Expectations, February 2010. Final Report to the
Department of Health, Social Care Workforce
Research Unit, King’s College.
Hussein S., Manthorpe J. and Stevens M (2009) The
Experiences of International Social Care Workers in
the UK: Findings from an Online Survey. November
2009, Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s
College London.
THANK YOU

Shereen Hussein: shereen.hussein@kcl.ac.uk

Cathrine Clarke: Cathrine.Clarke@gscc.org.uk