Professional identity of social work students in Mainland China: social work educator accounts

ABSTRACT Currently, a systematic empirical study on the efforts of social work education in promoting the development of the professional identity of Mainland China graduates is lacking. This study explores the current state and the development of the professional identity of social work students. Twenty-three social work educators from 11 provinces, two municipalities and two autonomous regions were interviewed. The findings revealed the perception of educators on the current state of development of professional identity among students, the efforts in developing students as future professionals and the ways of partnership with social work organisations. Overall, the study led to an increased understanding of the collaboration between educators and frontline social workers, synergy effects between social work education and service sector, future development of social work practice research and ways of developing professional identity among social work students. Implications are addressed, including collaboration with regional social work organisations and international university networks.