Ph.D. Program Description
The mission of the University of Kansas Ph.D.. Program in Social
Work is to prepare students to become scholars with advanced knowledge
and research skills who can bring innovation into our profession as
researchers, educators, social policy analysts, and administrators. The
doctoral program reflects the
curriculum themes of the School of
Social Welfare: to build on individual and collective strengths and
resources; to appreciate human diversity; to promote empowerment and social
justice; to think creatively and critically; and all of this for the purpose
of developing innovative approaches to practice, theory, research, policy,
and education. Our doctoral program is distinctive nationally for its blend
of these five themes and for its support for multiple ways of knowing and
advanced research methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative
empirical approaches, theoretical and conceptual analyses, policy analysis,
and historical studies. The Graduate School of the University of Kansas
grants the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work.
Link to Graduate School
Faculty strengths are well matched to the program’s purposes and
curriculum structure. We presently have 28 doctoral faculty persons who are
active in many areas of research related to social work such as aging, child
welfare, corrections, anti-poverty and economic development strategies,
health, international issues, mental health, philosophy of social welfare,
social policy, and spiritual diversity. The strengths perspective, other
themes of the school, and a community approach inform much of this research.
The program’s strengths include its distinctive mission and themes as
described above; the good fit between faculty qualifications and the themes
and curriculum structure of the doctoral program; the extensive amount of
research projects conducted by faculty and their mentoring of doctoral
students as research assistants; numerous opportunities for doctoral
students to gain experience in teaching with faculty supervision; a
curriculum design that allows students to determine their own areas of
specialization in terms of both research methods and fields of practice; and
extensive investment of faculty in mentoring and supporting students. In
2002, KU had more than $160 million and the School had more than $6 million
in external funding.
Link to Social
Welfare Doctoral Faculty
The KU School of Social Welfare has been ranked highly in
published program comparisons based on criteria related to scholarly
publications that are strongly related to our doctoral program faculty and
students. The School was ranked 14th of 126 accredited social
work programs in the nation in relation to the number of articles by faculty
who published in the 6 major journals of the profession (Journal of
Social Service Research, 1994, vol. 18, nos. ¾). Another study that
examined faculty productivity in 18 journals over 10 years ranked the School
fourth (Social Work, 1994, vol. 39, no. 4). In 2000, U.S. News and
World Report ranked the School as 19th in the nation among
graduate social work programs. Further, our doctoral students are very
productive scholars. Typically, at least 40% of our students publish while
in our program. In recent years, all students who wished to have research
and /or teaching assistantships have been able to do so. All who sought
faculty positions after graduation have been successful.
