7 Compelling Reasons to Pursue a Social Work Degree

Social work is a diversified field and encompasses working with people from a wide range of backgrounds. Social workers strive to improve people’s lives by working on diverse issues such as child abuse, addiction, poverty, and much more but at a micro-level. Their struggles in helping families work through their legal matters such as child custody and adoption, seeking rights, and the likes are commendable.

Overall, their work revolves around reducing conflicts and bringing solace to the lives of people. Given their scope of work, social workers are found in various settings, from clinics to schools, to government departments. With society dealing with a myriad of issues, the relevance of their work is increasing exponentially.

The social work profession is an excellent field for those who like to engage with people and are passionate about solving others’ problems.

Do you possess a philanthropic zeal? Are you eager to play your part in making the world a better place? If yes, you should enroll in a social work degree that provides essential skills and credentials to work for society’s betterment.

Let’s see some compelling reasons to pursue a social work degree.

1. Convenient access

Here is welcoming news for all of you wanting to make a change in society. Regardless of the field or profession you belong to; you can conveniently make your way into the social work domain. Suppose you have a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from an accredited higher education. In that case, you are eligible for a master’s degree in social works. The only requirement is to have substantial preparation in humanities and social science. Therefore, given the plethora of online education options, you can quickly get a degree online.

You can enroll in online social work master programs and develop the critical skillsets crucial to entering this field. A master’s degree offers you a chance to work in specialized clinical settings by enhancing your expertise in this field.

2. Help the underprivileged

The work of a social worker mainly revolves around helping people with various difficulties and issues. Social work offers you a platform to help people with your professional abilities combined with empathic behavior. There are many underprivileged people in this world, and many are deprived of their essential needs. Social workers seek to transform the lives of such people dealing with various challenges and issues. By helping underprivileged people, they make the world a better place to live.

3. Multiple career options

A degree in social work opens new career opportunities for you. You can choose from various career options and job prospects upon completion of your degree. Undoubtedly, there are many subfields of social work that one can explore. These consist of advocacy and organization, healthcare, international social work, developmental disabilities, and the list goes on.

Some prospective career options include assuming the role of probation officers, child protection officers, and family support workers, to name a few.

4. Higher salaries

The field of social work not only offers peace of mind for serving society, but social workers can also earn higher salaries. A master’s degree in social science can further enhance the pay scale.

According to a report, the average per annum salary of an MSW (Master in Social Work) professional is $20,000. Higher than a professional with a simple bachelor’s degree in the same setting. Furthermore, the more experience you gain in this field, the more your pay scale rises.

5. Gain transferable skills

A social work degree laces the students with transferable skills. The crucial skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving skills are generic to all fields and working situations.

The discipline instills time management and empathy traits, preparing you to go for various roles in the field. Additionally, you develop strong interpersonal skills to understand people’s issues and challenges in life.

6. Increased demand

The world witnessing an increased demand for social workers adds one more reason why you should pursue a social work degree. According to the US Bureau of Statistics, there were 680,000 social workers in 2018. However, the percentage will rise by 16% in 2026. Hence, the field of social work has a promising future.

Europe also shows a similar trend. Social Services Europe mention in their report that the profession of social work and humanities makes up 10-19 percent of the total employment in countries like Finland, Belgium, and France. Social work is also a field that showed continued growth even during the national economic crisis in 2008.

7. Meet like-minded people wanting to bring change

Last but not least, in this field, you will meet like-minded people inclined to bring positive change to society.

You can work with them to spread awareness among people about their rights and create better policies. The undeniable tendency of this field to strive for a prosperous world entices people to join it. Therefore, if you seek to work with passionate people to rid the world of its evils, this field is the best pick.

Conclusion

Social work is an advancing and growing field offering you an opportunity to meet and work with people from diverse backgrounds and social conditions.

The field is challenging yet offers peace of mind and strives towards making society a better place. The intrinsic reward often gets precedence over the extrinsic ones, such as salary and compensation. But the uniqueness of the social work profession is that it offers a unique amalgamation of both inner peace and monetary rewards. Therefore, it is becoming a highly gravitating field for young students.