DC considers tossing social work exam over concerns it fails too many people of color
The D.C. Council is considering doing away with the exam requirement for certain types of social workers over concerns of racial bias.Citing a need to fill social worker positions in the District, a bill from Councilman Robert White would eliminate the exam for entry and masters-level licensure applicants, whose work must still be supervised.
The move comes as the nation grapples with a shortage of social workers, but also as scores of social workers decry licensure exams for which data show people of color fail at higher rates than white counterparts.
“What the exam is doing is de-diversifying the profession,” said Catholic University professor Michael Massey, who said for years he's observed too many students of color succeed in class but fail the licensure exam.
The multiple choice tests, which ask social workers what they'd do in hypothetical scenarios, aren’t made public. But Massey says the exam fails to capture cultural nuances and real world experience and marks some responses as wrong that would be reasonable in practice.
As a result, “We have great social workers of color who came to social work schools to serve their communities, and they're not being allowed to do it despite rigorous preparation at school,” he said.
Others say it’s not the exam – but systemic educational challenges leading up to it – that are the issue, and defend it as necessary to ensure competence in the field.
DC considers tossing social work exam over concerns it fails too many people of color
The D.C. Council is considering doing away with the exam requirement for certain types of social workers over concerns of racial bias.
www.nbcwashington.com