Inclusivity is paramount to the social work profession. If social workers wish to advocate for those who do not have a voice, they must include many different perspectives in their work and research. It benefits the profession — and society — as a whole to ensure a range of diversity within the work.
New research from Fordham GSS Assistant Professor Kimberly Hudson, Ph.D., sheds light on a crucially important yet often underrepresented study area: LGBTQ+ issues, experiences, and theorizing in social work education.
The research article, titled “Exploring the Intersections of LGBTQ Experience and Social Work Education: A Scoping Review,” offers a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the current landscape of scholarly discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ concerns within the field of social work education. Published in Social Work Education, the article unveils the challenges, opportunities, and untold narratives that deserve a place at the forefront of our academic discussions.
The article examines 54 peer-reviewed articles from 2010–2020, scrutinizing the rationales driving the research, the theoretical frameworks employed, the portrayal of identities, and the engagement with issues of race.
“We suggest that more scholarship is needed within social work education that centers the lived experiences of queer and trans people; asks a range of questions rooted in varied theories and epistemologies; and decenters whiteness and focuses on intersectionality within queer and trans communities,” the article said.
