Soc Work. 2021 Apr 15;66(1):19-28. doi: 10.1093/sw/swaa045.
Forty-five U.S. states require social workers to pass an examination for entry-level MSW licensure, with all 50 states requiring it for clinical practice. All states use examinations created by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) for this purpose. There has been concern that these exams may contribute to racial bias in social work licensing, as ASWB has historically not reported passing rates by demographic groups. In the present study, New York State licensing rates of over 5,000 graduates of three MSW programs of the City University of New York were analyzed according to race, gender, and age. Although passing rates on ASWB exams were not specifically examined, this study analyzed demographic disparities in licensure. In bivariate and multivariate analyses, White graduates had significantly higher rates of licensure than those who identified as Black, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, mixed, or other. Furthermore, older Black and Latinx graduates had far lower rates of licensure than their younger counterparts. As a core value of social work is social justice, the results indicate the need for far more investigation into racial and age disparities in social work licensure.
四十五个美国州要求社会工作者通过考试才能获得初级社会工作硕士许可证，所有五十个州都要求临床实践需要该证。所有州都为此目的使用社会工作者协会（ASWB）创建的考试。有人担心这些考试可能导致社会工作许可中的种族偏见，因为 ASWB 历史上没有按人口统计群体报告通过率。在本研究中，根据种族、性别和年龄分析了纽约市立大学三个社会工作硕士项目的 5000 多名毕业生的纽约州执照颁发率。虽然没有专门检查 ASWB 考试的通过率，但本研究分析了执照颁发方面的人口统计学差异。在单变量和多变量分析中，白人毕业生的执照颁发率明显高于那些自认为是黑人、拉丁裔、亚裔/太平洋岛民、混血或其他族裔的人。此外，年长的黑人和拉丁裔毕业生的执照颁发率远远低于年轻的毕业生。由于社会工作的核心价值观是社会正义，因此研究结果表明，需要对社会工作执照颁发方面的种族和年龄差异进行更多调查。
