Specialty "Social work": who to work with? Choice of profession. Social work in the field of higher education Where to become a social worker

Social work practice in the field higher education arose and developed as a response to the accumulated load of problems in the functioning high school and today it requires, along with practical actions, serious theoretical understanding. This is due, first of all, to the fact that, being a fundamentally significant organic part of the education sector as a whole, higher school is the most important social institution providing upbringing, education and training. It is the basis for the socio-economic development of any state, and without its successful functioning, which involves constant improvement, the progress of society is impossible.

The current conditions of the protracted complex crisis of the life of our society, which has most seriously affected the sphere of higher education and its individual elements, dictate its own rules for the formation of the direction of social work in this area.

The situation related to the process of democratization of the life of our society, with structural changes in economics, with the development of regional labor markets, it actualizes the problem of reforming higher education and social work in the field of higher education in order to overcome existing and newly emerging difficulties and contradictions in the development of the higher education system.

Social work in the field of higher education entirely depends on the processes that the university itself is going through. The effectiveness of the results of social work in it depends on the degree of development of the higher education system. This is due to the fact that higher education today plays several roles in relation to the implementation of social work. Firstly, it acts as a basic environment for the implementation of social work, secondly, it is a source of social work as a type of activity, thirdly, it is the subject of social work as a science and educational process, since many universities in Ukraine train specialists in social work. That is why it is fundamentally important to analyze the development process of the modern higher education system.

Let us consider the higher school of Ukraine as the fundamental basis for the formation of social work in the field of higher education. Let us analyze the potential and capabilities of a modern university in the field of implementing social work.

In this aspect, we can identify a number of main trends characteristic of modern stage evolution of higher education:

1) quantitative growth of higher educational institutions;
2) democratization of universities;
3) differentiation of the “internal university field”;
4) transformation of socially significant functions of a modern university.

The listed trends are associated with the occurrence of ambiguous, contradictory processes, so they are rightly both constructive and radically opposite in nature. On the one hand, they give rise to new difficulties and problems for subjects of higher education, on the other hand, they contribute to the search for innovative approaches to the implementation of social work, expanding the range of social services, adequate to emerging problems.

The realities of today are the quantitative growth of higher educational institutions of both state and commercial types: the fact that institutions have received university status and an increase in the number of academies of various profiles has become popular. In addition, in modern higher education, unlike the Soviet period, there are levels: incomplete higher education - 3 years; Bachelor's degree - 4 years; specialist - 1 year; master's degree - 1-2 years. There are also budget and commercial forms of training.

The network is not state universities Today it has become an important component of higher education, one of the reasons for the creation and development of which was the contradictions that arose in the early 90s between the increased demand of the population for educational services and the impossibility of its implementation by the state. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 200 non-state higher educational institutions in Ukraine. Currently, these indicators have increased and are trending upward. This situation has ambiguous and even paradoxical consequences. On the one hand, today, in the context of reduced budget funding for state universities, the existence and development of non-state educational institutions represents a way out of the existing contradictions. The increase in the number of higher educational institutions contributes to the expansion of the scope of educational services. But, on the other hand, the commercialization of higher education initially puts applicants from high-income families and middle- and low-income families into unequal conditions, since tuition fees are not acceptable for all segments of society.

Thus, the growing trend in the number of universities expands the range of educational services only for “solvent” applicants. For others, the development of the situation in this direction only reduces the degree of accessibility of higher education. A significant reduction in free education places leads to high degree corruption of higher education structures, which aggravates the current situation in the educational services market and does not allow applicants who do not have “socially useful” connections to enroll in a budget-funded form of education at a state university. This situation led to the development of options for solving the problem of accessibility to higher education. One of these options was the Unified State Exam, introduced for school graduates.

In addition, we must not forget about the failed attempt to increase the number of higher educational institutions in our country in 1917-1918. When new universities sprang up everywhere in huge numbers. Some counties made requests to create dozens and even hundreds of universities at once. These educational institutions, created hastily, had nothing in common with real universities. Under the guise of "university" one could find something like factories, where various general education and special courses (accounting, agronomics) were located. A similar situation may arise in the modern domestic education system. In the process of increasing quantitative indicators Universities are not immune to a decline in the quality of education.

In addition, the higher school, in order to please new fashionable hobbies, responding to the interested demand of applicants for such new specialties as manager, marketer, image maker, sociologist, political scientist, philosopher or psychologist, advertising specialist, etc., prepares in large volumes specialists in the listed specialties without taking into account the real labor market demand for them. In this regard, the problem of employment in accordance with the acquired specialty in a higher educational institution is becoming increasingly urgent for university graduates.

The consequence of the processes considered is the increased importance of developing innovative approaches to the organizational restructuring of the university.

Being an integral part of education as social phenomenon, a higher school focused on the formation of personality, performs the most important functions of socialization and professionalization of a person. Currently, in addition to their main educational function, universities take on a number of other functions. Firstly, the function social protection, since higher educational institutions today actually protect a certain part of young people from unemployment and conscription for military service, which is increasingly less respected by the majority. Secondly, the social value of higher education has increased, therefore it serves as an important channel of movement in society, a kind of social “elevator”, which increases not only social mobility, but also social stratification society. Thirdly, modern higher education is often not professionally specialized, but a condition for professional self-determination.

Competition in the market (global, state, regional), reduction in government funding, growing contradictions between expensive sciences, research, the need for mass education and regional problems-- all this together contributes to the development of the university’s entrepreneurial model. This “achievement” belongs to the category of “not indisputable”; in many ways it is forced, and is not characteristic of most universities.

The nature of social work in the field of higher education has a direct connection with the process of differentiation of the “internal university field”. Here the central integral aggregate activity can be linked to generally accepted sociological patterns. For example, “from more homogeneous to more heterogeneous”: for teachers - the professionalism of the teaching staff, the actual payment for their work, the opportunity provided by the university for growth and the implementation of their scientific plans; for students - attitude to the educational process (attendance, individual schedule, violation labor discipline), actually acquired knowledge, social activity; for management personnel - the spread of social myth-making about steady qualitative improvement; about a significant reduction in the real rights and opportunities of departments, sharp differentiation in salary levels; about controversial relations.

Because the current situation influences the emergence of specific problems of the main subjects of higher education, which include faculty, students, graduate students and doctoral students, university staff - the development of social work in the field of higher education is especially relevant and acts as one of the main factors , influencing the success and efficiency of the processes of training and education of the future generation of intelligentsia.

Let us consider the mechanisms, subjects, means and methods of social work in the field of higher education using the example of universities in which it is already being carried out.

The teacher acts as a central figure in the educational process, as one of its main subjects. The pedagogical skills of the teaching staff largely determine the improvement in the quality of training of young specialists. Necessary characteristics of the activity of a higher education teacher educational institution that contribute to the development of higher education are: the use of innovations in content and forms educational material, methods of monitoring students’ knowledge, non-standard ways of attracting students to scientific work; high level of professionalism. These requirements can be met by the teacher only if there are appropriate conditions for the implementation professional activity. In turn, measures to create favorable conditions for the life of teachers represent the main tasks of social work in the field of higher education in relation to this category of citizens:

1. Ensuring a high level of organization and provision of the educational process, which consists of access to new, modern sources of information; in the provision of bibliographic and educational materials, in access to the use of modern technologies in the educational process information technologies, to the possibility professional growth the personality of the teacher, access to opportunities to take advanced training courses and, finally, the level of stimulation of the teacher’s activities, above all financial plan through dimensions wage payments. The most common type of teachers today are “poor but smart” (with the exception of the managerial elite of universities), forced to work under conditions of constant overload (additional rates, hourly pay, etc.).
2. Organization of life activities, leisure and recreation: provision of housing, medical care, access to resources for psychological, emotional and physical recovery.
3. Providing the opportunity to self-actualize and realize one’s own potential through publications of one’s own educational and methodological manuals, workshops, monographs.

It is clear that scientific and pedagogical growth, recreation, health and conscientious execution their responsibilities in the context of the development of modern higher education are very problematic. Feeling humiliated and forgotten by the authorities, the teacher, knowing that he is necessary for the student, culture and future, makes compromises. But he is often forced to lower his demands on himself and on students.

The considered conditions for the effective activity of teachers are far from being the same for the entire teaching staff. Therefore, the problems and their significance for each individual teacher are different. In turn, this leads to differentiation of this professional group and to the actualization of the individual, targeted orientation of social work in relation to teachers at the university.

The reasons for the differentiation of teachers according to the nature of the problems are connected, firstly, with financial problems state universities, since teachers commercial structures Higher schools in this regard are in an order of magnitude better conditions than teachers of state higher educational institutions. Secondly, the sign of localization plays an important role in the existence different conditions regarding the listed bases of differentiation between teachers of large metropolitan universities and teachers from among employees of peripheral higher education. Thirdly, teachers can also be divided by age. According to the teaching concept, conservatives and innovators can be distinguished, but this is already the reason for the subjective nature of differentiation of the teaching staff of higher education.

Another no less significant figure in the university, along with the teacher, is the object of education - the students. In a relationship of this participant educational process The situation in higher education is far from ambiguous. This is due to the fact that modern conditions, in which the professional development of today's student takes place, have changed this social group, its main characteristics and distinctive features.

The traditional position regarding the definition of students, formulated by L. Ya. Rubina, is also becoming less and less relevant: “Uniting young people of approximately the same age and the same level of education, students differ from other groups of students in a number of features: forms of organizing one’s life activities, concentration in large university centers, “localization of the lifestyle within the walls” of the university, Vstudent group, Vhostel, relative independence in choosing methods of activity during school and extracurricular time.

In terms of the realities of today, the interpretation of the definition of students proposed by T. E. Petrova is adequate, which defines students as a relatively special and independent social group of a non-productive, socially active nature, and proposes in the light of modern scientific approaches abandon ideas about students as a transitional, marginal, homogeneous, localized in time and space social group in favor of defining it as a heterogeneous, internally differentiated, sociocultural community with many inherent ways and styles of life.

Indeed, many characteristics and features of student life have changed today. This led to the realization that a single approach to social work in relation to students cannot be effective, since differentiation, in general, of students as a social group leads to differentiation of student problems and their degree of relevance for each individual student. Therefore, as well as in relation to teachers, social work in the field of higher education in relation to students should be based, first of all, on an individual approach.

In order to analyze the nature of the problems to which social work should be adequate, it is necessary to consider the signs of differentiation of modern students:

- floor;
- age, course;
- nationality;
- place of residence (city, village; proximity to parents);
- living conditions (dormitory, apartment, private house);
- university, specialty (technical, humanitarian; metropolitan, peripheral; commercial, state);
- form of training;
- employment;
- belonging to youth subcultures;
- motivation for learning;
- social activity;
- academic performance; attitude towards research activities
- marital status, etc.

The listed grounds for student differentiation determine the nature of the problems and their significance for a particular group of students.

In addition, the range of student problems can be viewed through the prism various types activities:

Types of student life activities

In this aspect, in each type of activity, the student faces certain problems, and since clear boundaries are very difficult to define, and the types and spheres of a student’s life are closely intertwined and overlap each other, overlapping, therefore it is relevant in the field of studying student problems social field theory. Considering society as a multidimensional space, the theory of the social field places special emphasis on its characteristics, which can be objectively observed and changed.

A social agent, having a constant position in space, can also occupy positions in several social fields. At the same time, under the social field there is a structured space of positions that determine the basic properties of the field. Each field has its own logic, its own rules, its own properties, its own specific patterns.

The field of students' problems is part of the social space, organically enters it and represents an organizational formation, a certain complex, a complex construct. This structure contains problem nodes with numerous factors, forces whose influence is multidirectional and heterogeneous, with connections between factors, nodes and external environment, with the personality of a student as a part of society, in search of his “I” and at the same time in his own individual field of problems.

The complexity of the problem situation for the student is that he needs to reflect on his state in different dynamic fields. The ability of young people to engage in reflective activity varies. If it is low, then the student is not able to identify the problems he has. Conversely, a developed reflexive ability leads to an excess of problems. The eventful nature of the field determines its constant changes. Any changes irreversibly cause an effect chain reaction. The entire configuration will begin to move and, perhaps, will stop only when it finds some state that is optimal for itself. The transition to field theory means that society as a whole and students in particular should be studied not as a stable, static state, but as an endless process of change, not as a rigid fixed object, but as an endless stream of events. The complexity of the field of students’ life problems is also due to the fact that it is almost impossible to determine its options. further development.

The study of the problems of subjects of higher education, the study of their natural causality allows us to form targeted, more effective, in-demand social work in the field of higher education, and allows both students and teachers to determine the most optimal subject of assistance, in each individual case, for each specific problem. The entire range of subjects of social work in the field of higher education can be presented as follows:

Link No. 1

Subjects of social work in the field of higher education

Let us characterize each link of subjects of social work in the field of higher education presented in the diagram.

Link No. 1 represented by authorities at various levels: state, regional and local. The main task of the activities of this unit of social work subjects in the field of higher education is to create conditions for the implementation of social work.

Activity state, regional legislative and executive bodies is aimed at developing effective legal mechanisms that make it possible to implement in practice the model of social work in the field of higher education:

* creating effective legal framework in Social Work in Higher Education;
* creating conditions for the university administration to carry out social work in the area under consideration;
* the formation of state incentives for the activities of teachers through solving housing problems at the state level and improving the material well-being of teachers;
* formation of a system of incentives at the state level for student education, for example, through ensuring employment of university graduates;
* creating conditions for the implementation of charitable activities, non-profit organizations in the field of providing social assistance and provision of social services to subjects of higher education;
* stimulating the activities of sponsors and philanthropists in the field of organizing social assistance to higher education.

In addition, the activities of state and regional authorities to improve the well-being of the population throughout the country contribute to the strengthening of one of the significant subjects of assistance in the field of higher education - the family.

Administration of the university, faculty, department and structural units university have the main task of activities in the field of social work to create favorable conditions for the functioning of subjects of higher education. This means that these authorities carry out activities to solve problems related to the organization of the educational process:

* ensuring sufficient classroom fund,
* provision of modern teaching and learning facilities,
* creating conditions for professional growth of teachers,
* providing students with the necessary amount of educational sources (educational, methodological, statistical, reference and other literature, publications periodicals, modern sources of information - the Internet, information on electronic media, etc.),
* promoting implementation innovative methods teaching in universities,
* introduction into the structure of the university of a body dealing with issues of social protection.

Link No. 2 represented by subjects of assistance who participate in the implementation of social work “from the outside,” with the exception of public organizations, the functioning of which is possible both within the university and outside it. Public organizations are called upon to implement social work through the provision of various types of social assistance. Examples of such organizations are trade union student organizations and public student organizations. There are no fundamental differences in the approaches to the activities of trade unions and public organizations of students, however, trade unions place emphasis in their activities on solving social issues of students, public associations direct their efforts towards supporting socially significant initiatives of student youth, creating conditions for comprehensive self-realization of students.

A special form of student social movement are student teams. The student team today is a special positive youth environment, whose participants are focused on socially significant activities. Carrying out various social, educational, labor functions, members of student groups have a real opportunity to implement their own labor and social initiatives. In addition, activities in teams create real opportunities for students to improve and develop themselves. For many young people, the student team is not only an opportunity to practice professional activities, which is also important, but also to reveal organizational and managerial qualities in themselves.

Teachers can act in the activities of such organizations as an organizer and curator (student public organizations), as an object of assistance (trade union organization of teachers; public organizations whose activities include providing social assistance to teachers, in particular, older teachers, for example.

Another subject of assistance, which also applies to Link No. 2, is family, close relatives.

First of all, it is necessary to point out the importance of the family as a whole for subjects of higher education as individuals, as individuals. Particularly important is the moral, psychological, emotional foundation of the individual, which is laid through the means of socialization in the family. This largely determines the worldview, perception, and reaction of the individual to emerging difficulties and difficulties. An illustration can be the different content and emotional coloring of the reaction to the same problems among different students, or rather among students from different families. In one case, disorder in everyday life, for example, can cause panic and confusion, in another - an optimistic attitude and readiness to overcome difficulties. This example also serves as a clear indicator of the importance of the family in the process of preparing a student, to some extent, for independent life, instilling in him practical self-service skills. Thus, the family indirectly influences not only the process of overcoming student problems, but also the nature of their occurrence and the degree of their significance.

The material capabilities of the parental family continue to have a direct impact on solving student problems throughout the entire learning process. The microclimate that develops in the parental family also largely influences both the student’s academic performance and the solution of his personal and psychological problems. A prosperous two-parent family has a beneficial effect on the student’s personality and on his mutual relationships with others. The transmission of behavioral stereotypes formed in the parental family determines the student’s position in the academic group, at the faculty, and influences the perception of others around him and the formation of attitudes towards him.

The importance of the family in solving student problems increases when we're talking about that although there is an opportunity to contact various authorities, there is no confidence in solving the problem. Whereas the degree of confidence in help from relatives and family is several times higher than the confidence in meeting needs from any other authority.

If we consider not parental family, and student, then it acts not only as a subject of solving student problems, but also as a factor aggravating them. Modern development our society creates additional problems for students who have their own families.

This fact confirms the thesis that the activities, first of all, of government agencies and society as a whole should be focused not only on the individual student, but also on the family itself, in this case, both the parents and the student itself .

A similar situation arises in relation to the teaching staff, with the only difference being that for older teachers, their own family acts as a source of help, primarily of a psychological, emotional, material and household nature.

Link No. 3 presents social work through forms and types of mutual assistance. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that the teaching staff and students act simultaneously as subjects and objects of social work. Mutual assistance in this sense is considered as the presence of elements of social assistance in the systems: 1) student - student; 2) student - teacher; 3) teacher - teacher.

Mutual assistance is one of the most ancient elements of assistance in a university. At the same time, it should be noted that the law of mutual assistance is a law of nature, which is the main condition for progressive development, that the motivation for mutual assistance is inherent, first of all, in the nature of the individual himself as a human being.

Therefore, being in conditions of constant interaction in the process educational activities, students often decide common problems. The following types of mutual assistance can be specified: mutual assistance funds created on the basis of faculties and academic groups; mutual assistance in everyday life (in student dormitories); mutual assistance in the educational process (assistance in preparing notes, essays, tips for seminars, tests and exams, etc.)

Help from faculty to students most often takes the form of volunteer activities to provide extracurricular services, conduct extracurricular activities, or coordinate student volunteer organizations. In turn, the student also acts as a subject of assistance for the teacher. This manifests itself when it comes to the possibility of a teacher realizing himself as a professional, when a student contributes to the teacher’s self-improvement, when, in the presence of effective work with a student, the teacher experiences a “situation of professional success.”

Mutual assistance among the teaching staff, similar to the student environment, manifests itself both at the professional level (exchange and transmission of teaching experience, assistance in obtaining new information), and at the everyday, emotional levels, as well as assistance in organizing leisure time.

The most promising link of social work subjects in the field of higher education is Link No. 4, which involves activating the individual’s own strengths, in our case a student or a teacher, in solving their own problems. Social work in the field of higher education should be aimed at creating conditions for the active position of social work subjects to use own resources assistance and the elimination or reduction of consumer attitudes towards the use of social assistance resources.

However, the process of organizing social work in this regard requires special approaches to creating favorable conditions for realizing one’s own potential. Active life position student and teacher in the implementation of social work is impossible unless appropriate conditions are created for this Units No. 1, 2 subjects of social work. In the absence of clear interaction between subjects of social work in the field of higher education, the effectiveness of social assistance, support, and provision will be minimized. Those. it is necessary to increase the effectiveness of social work in the field of higher education on the basis of systemic, integrated and individual approaches both at the level of subjects of social work and at the level of technology.

The systems approach is especially relevant in the integration of social work subjects in the goals and objectives of their activities. An integrated approach is expressed mainly in the effective, step-by-step implementation of diagnostic processes, identifying the cause of problems, drawing up assistance programs, the process of providing direct assistance, analyzing the results of activities, forecasting the further development of the problem situation and the monitoring process after overcoming the crisis. And these processes should be aimed at preventing the possibility of relapse by solving the client’s problem in a comprehensive manner. An individual approach facilitates the implementation of targeted social assistance and allows the forms and methods of social work to best suit the problems of each client individually.

Thus, we note the following provisions:

1. The relevance of social work in the higher education system is due to the high importance of this area for the life of society as a whole.
2. The development of social work in the field of higher education is directly dependent on the processes occurring within higher education.
3. Currently, the higher school of Ukraine acts as the basic environment for the implementation of social work, is the source of social work as a type of activity and the subject of social work as a science.
4. The main directions of social work are formed according to the problems and needs of subjects of higher education, which are differentiated by groups: teaching staff, students, university staff.
5. Social work in relation to teachers should be aimed at creating favorable conditions for life: ensuring a high level of organization and support of the educational process; organization of life activities, leisure and recreation; providing the opportunity to self-actualize and realize one’s own professional potential.
6. Social work in relation to students should be built taking into account modern changes of a given social group and is aimed at solving problems, the study of which is possible only with the help of the theory of the social field, related to the specific nature of various types of activities.
7. The subjects of social work in the field of modern higher education are: Link No. 1 -- government bodies authorities, local authorities authorities, administration of the university, faculty, departments, structural divisions of the university; Link No. 2 - public organizations, philanthropists, sponsors, close relatives, friends; Link No. 3 - teaching staff, students; Link number 4 is the individual himself (student, teacher).
8. Social work in the field of higher education should be carried out on the basis of an integrated, systematic and individual approach.

Questions and tasks

1. Describe the sphere of education as an object of social work.
2. Describe social groups, interacting in the field of education and their social problems.
3. Identify the features of social problems related to the specifics of the field of education.
4. Expand the content of social work technologies with preschoolers and primary schoolchildren.
5. Show the variety of social work technologies in high school.
6. Describe the technologies of social work in vocational education.
7. Describe students of secondary specialized educational institutions and university students as an object of social work.
8. Show the features of social work technologies in special educational institutions.
9. Identify goals and objectives, technologies in social work with families of pupils and students.
10. What is the essence and direction of technology in working with teachers and university professors.
11. Describe the development trends of the modern higher education system.
12. Highlight the main problems of social work objects in the field of higher education.
13. List the subjects of social work in the field of higher education, characterize the areas of their activities.
14. What approaches to the implementation of social work in the field of higher education are the most significant? Justify your answer.
15. Highlight positive and negative trends in the development of higher education and determine their impact on the implementation of social work in the higher education system:

16. Using your university as an example, highlight the forms and types of mutual assistance in the field of higher education. Compare the experience of organizing social work in the field of higher education in your university and other universities.
17. Develop a project for a comprehensive social assistance service (for students or teachers, or both) in the conditions of your university.

Social workers provide comprehensive assistance to people, interacting primarily with vulnerable categories of citizens. They work with refugees, orphans, and pensioners, helping them receive social, legal, and material support. The profession is suitable for those who have no interest in school subjects (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects).

Short description

The profession is very ancient; several hundred years ago such specialists were called philanthropists and missionaries. Part of the social responsibilities was assigned to monks and nuns, who provided shelter, food and a minimum level of education to poor people. Today everything has changed, and this work is carried out by authorized representatives social services, which are assigned to every person or family in need of state aid and support. The specialist primarily leads the following groups of citizens:

pensioners and people with disabilities;
children and adolescents suffering from congenital and acquired diseases, family violence and other problems;
women who have become victims of any type of violence;
dependent citizens;
people who lost their homes, were injured, or lost loved ones during disasters;
large families and others.

The social worker has direct contact with the population, checking the conditions in which children are kept and how the funds allocated by the state for a newborn are distributed. They carry food to sick people and pensioners, provide emotional support to citizens suffering from addictions (alcohol, drugs, gaming and others). The work is difficult and dangerous, because a specialist never knows what awaits him in the future. closed door one apartment or another. Social workers do not receive a very high salary; traditionally this profession is chosen by women, who are more compassionate than men.

Features of the profession

A social worker must love people. This is the first requirement that is tacitly put forward to specialists. The responsibilities of such an employee include the following list of mandatory work:

analysis of the entrusted area, selection of people in need of social assistance and protection (temporarily or permanently);
working with complaints and appeals from the population, checking information, making decisions on each individual application;
provision of all types of social services, informing citizens about their rights and responsibilities;
providing assistance in obtaining legal and other types of advice;
home delivery of food products, drinking water, medicines, as well as other goods. A social worker can keep order in the home of the people to whom he is assigned, prepare or heat food, deliver ready-made food from relatives or from special canteens, pay bills;
assistance in filling out applications and requests for social assistance, preferential vouchers, services;
communication with socially vulnerable citizens and their relatives;
provision of additional services: first health care, psychological support and others;
maintaining accounting and reporting documentation.

A social worker must have minimal knowledge about medicine and be an excellent psychologist, because his work combines the main features of these professions. The segment is characterized by high staff turnover, so employees are always needed. The specialist interacts with law enforcement officials, volunteer organizations, different groups teachers and doctors.

Pros and cons of the profession

pros

Huge social significance profession, because every day such specialists perform complex and important work, improving the quality of life for many people.
Official employment and a significant number of vacancies.
Specialists are in demand in every major and small town Russia.
You can get a job without higher education.
Stable training and development.
A large number of budget places in universities, the opportunity to get an education at the full-time, part-time or correspondence faculty.
The job will be an ideal solution for humanitarians.

Minuses

Low paying job.
Constant contact with different segments of the population, whose representatives are not always friendly and honest.
Interaction with sick, dependent people can lead to infection with infectious and other types of diseases.
Labor is undervalued in the CIS countries.
The specialist spends a lot of time on his feet and is forced to perform a large amount of work.
The schedule may be irregular.
Social workers are often confronted with extreme cases of human cruelty, which can have a debilitating effect on morale.

Important personal qualities

Emotional stability and calm are two of the most important qualities that must be present in the character of a good social worker. This specialist must have excellent speech, inspire trust and respect, be able to listen and understand people. Other qualities are also important:

philanthropy;
tolerance;
resourcefulness;
self-control;
aptitude for working in a team;
a heightened sense of justice;
parity;
passion for social processes.

The character of a specialist should be free of pride, as well as greed and disgust.

Training to become a social worker

You can master this difficult profession both at a university and at a college. When entering a university, you should choose the field of study “Social work”, passing exams in the Russian language, history and social studies; the duration of study is 5-6 years. It is also recommended to consider the following programs:

“Social work with youth”;
"Social work in the social protection system."

After 9th or 11th grade, you can apply to college, choosing the faculty of social work. The duration of training is 2-3 years, which depends on the basic training of the applicant and the chosen educational institution. You can get into some colleges based on your GPA without taking any exams.

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Educational center "Verity"

A large selection of various training programs that help improve the skills of people working in the field of social assistance. Classes are provided for both individual employees and entire teams. You can gain knowledge in person or remotely. The programs include innovative development methods for children, rules of interaction with teenagers, labor protection and no less pressing issues.

Short description

The profession is very ancient; several hundred years ago such specialists were called philanthropists and missionaries. Part of the social responsibilities was assigned to monks and nuns, who provided shelter, food and a minimum level of education to poor people. Today everything has changed, and this work is carried out by authorized representatives of social services, who are assigned to each person or family in need of government assistance and support. The specialist primarily leads the following groups of citizens:

pensioners and people with disabilities;
children and adolescents suffering from congenital and acquired diseases, family violence and other problems;
women who have become victims of any type of violence;
dependent citizens;
people who lost their homes, were injured, or lost loved ones during disasters;
large families and others.

The social worker has direct contact with the population, checking the conditions in which children are kept and how the funds allocated by the state for a newborn are distributed. They carry food to sick people and pensioners, provide emotional support to citizens suffering from addictions (alcohol, drugs, gaming and others). The work is difficult and dangerous, because a specialist never knows what awaits him behind the closed door of a particular apartment. Social workers do not receive a very high salary; traditionally this profession is chosen by women, who are more compassionate than men.

Features of the profession

A social worker must love people. This is the first requirement that is tacitly put forward to specialists. The responsibilities of such an employee include the following list of mandatory work:

analysis of the entrusted area, selection of people in need of social assistance and protection (temporarily or permanently);
working with complaints and appeals from the population, checking information, making decisions on each individual application;
provision of all types of social services, informing citizens about their rights and responsibilities;
providing assistance in obtaining legal and other types of advice;
home delivery of food, drinking water, medicines, and other goods. A social worker can keep order in the home of the people to whom he is assigned, cook or heat food, deliver ready-made food from relatives or from special canteens, pay bills;
assistance in filling out applications and requests for social assistance, preferential vouchers, services;
communication with socially vulnerable citizens and their relatives;
provision of additional services: first aid, psychological support and others;
maintaining accounting and reporting documentation.

Pros and cons of the profession

pros

The profession has enormous social significance, because every day such specialists perform complex and important work that improves the quality of life of many people.
Official employment and a significant number of vacancies.
Specialists are in demand in every large and small city in Russia.
You can get a job without higher education.
Stable training and development.
A large number of budget places in universities, the opportunity to get an education at the full-time, part-time or correspondence faculty.
The job will be an ideal solution for humanitarians.

Minuses

Low paying job.
Constant contact with different segments of the population, whose representatives are not always friendly and honest.
Interaction with sick, dependent people can lead to infection with infectious and other types of diseases.
Labor is undervalued in the CIS countries.
The specialist spends a lot of time on his feet and is forced to perform a large amount of work.
The schedule may be irregular.
Social workers are often confronted with extreme cases of human cruelty, which can have a debilitating effect on morale.

Important personal qualities

philanthropy;
tolerance;
resourcefulness;
self-control;
aptitude for working in a team;
a heightened sense of justice;
parity;
passion for social processes.

The character of a specialist should be free of pride, as well as greed and disgust.

Training to become a social worker

“Social work with youth”;
"Social work in the social protection system."

Russian Institute of Vocational Education "IPO" - recruits students to obtain a specialty through a distance program of professional retraining and advanced training. Studying at the IPO is a convenient and quick way to receive distance education. 200+ training courses. 8000+ graduates from 200 cities. Short deadlines for completing documents and external training, interest-free installments from the institute and individual discounts. Contact us!

Educational center "Verity"

What to do after graduating from university? In reality, this question can be very difficult to answer. After all, even many teachers cannot clearly answer students what awaits them ahead. Nevertheless, for some, building a career in this field is quite interesting and even successful. Unfortunately, there are few different alternatives here. This is such a cruel specialty "Social work". What to do after graduating from university? Let's try to figure this out as soon as possible. After all, there are not so many vacancies on offer, although positions in positions, as a rule, are constantly empty.

Social worker

Of course, the first place that can be recommended is the fact that this vacancy is not particularly popular in Russia, although it plays an important role for society.

You have completed your degree in Social Work. Who to work with? As already mentioned - a social worker. What to do here? You will have to help people in need, as well as identify and register them. In other words, to be in the government service of “surveillance” of social development population.

A social work specialist is far from the most promising position. Practice has shown this. After all, you won’t be able to become a boss - for this you must have connections. But anyone can become an “ordinary” employee. Only the level of salaries, taking into account the responsibility and emotional stress, is very, very small.

Policy

The job can also involve politics. The thing is that many graduates of this specialty have great prospects for personal growth. And this, like nothing else, will help them achieve success in politics.

In practice, to be honest, this situation occurs very rarely. After all, the standard description of the specialty does not include any mention of political activity. As a rule, graduates are told that they will only be able to get a job as an ordinary social worker at some enterprise and work there almost all their lives.

So, don’t think that “Social work” is a death sentence. You can easily become a successful politician. Only for this you will have to make considerable efforts. But the result will please you in every sense.

Teacher

Such a vacancy as a social teacher is very common these days. To be honest, this position is most often found in kindergartens. Graduates of the specialty “Social work” often become educators there. Why does this happen?

The thing is that such employees, as a rule, very quickly identify social problems in children and their parents. And if necessary, they are registered as a dysfunctional family. This in turn helps eliminate problems and improve the atmosphere. And, of course, it has a beneficial effect on the child.

But social work with children is not particularly popular among graduates and young employees. The thing is that here you will not be able to receive high wages. And with career growth, things are very difficult. Thus, only those who “have a soul” for this profession are capable of working as a (social) teacher.

Nurse

You have completed your degree in Social Work. What to do after graduation? For example, such graduates have the opportunity to work as a professional caregiver for the disabled. The prospect is not the brightest, but this vacancy is almost always empty.

However, not everyone will agree to work as a nurse. Especially when you consider that, again, you will receive a low salary, but during the working day you will have to give your best. Often caregivers look like a squeezed lemon by the end of the week.

Therefore, young graduates are not particularly interested in this vacancy. They are more interested in the vacancy of a “dormitory teacher.” Only in practice, people with extensive life experience are hired for such positions. Typically, this vacancy is occupied exclusively by women over 50 years of age. So young graduates have very little chance of getting this vacancy.

Psychologist

Sociologist-psychologist is another position that is available to graduates. But here things are a little better than with previous vacancies. The point is that you can work as a sociologist-psychologist either in government agency, and in private. In the first case, you will be in the civil service, but your salary will be meager. And there is a lot of work.

In the second case, you will not have civil service experience, but the salary level will be several times higher. Additionally, the clientele is also different in the two places. In the first case, you will most likely have to work with disadvantaged families, and in the second, you will have to serve elite clients.

Of course, everyone chooses for themselves what is best for them. Only in practice it has been proven that a sociologist-psychologist is quite often chosen as a private job rather than a public one. And this is understandable - it is very important for young employees career, as well as the level of wages, which are not satisfactory in government agencies.

Medicine

Your diploma says "Social Work" as a specialty. Who to work with? For example, in addition to all the listed vacancies, you can also work in medical institutions. And here there are several options for the development of events. Which ones? Let's figure it out.

For example, graduates of our current specialty can work in the so-called social medical worker. This vacancy involves supporting and helping sick people. For example, working with alcohol and drug addicts, as well as with people with disabilities of various categories. This is far from the best place for young and promising university graduates to work.

You can also work as a psychologist in medical institution. It's more a good place. Usually, it is for this position that employees are hired for whom it is important to work in medicine, but at the same time have a diploma in sociology.

Conclusion

Today we figured out what kind of specialty “Social work” is, who to work for, and also what places graduates choose most often. To be honest, in practice it turns out that few people work with a diploma in this field.

Often it is enough just to get at least some higher education in order to work in one place or another. For example, sociologists are very often found as managers, waiters and cashiers. That is, with this diploma you can get a job wherever you want. But in most cases, only an ordinary employee.

Reference

The social service provides services to elderly single people with second or first group disabilities, as well as those who are unable to fully care for themselves. Such people who are to be served by a social worker are called wards. Wards who have completely lost the ability to self-care are transferred to a home for the elderly (disabled) or under the supervision of the Center’s nursing service social services. People become wards as a result of contacting SOBES, the Veterans Council, directly to the Social Service Center (CSC) or the Social Protection Committee, as well as as a result of a special walkthrough of the territory by a social worker in order to identify those in need of service.

Demand for the profession

Quite in demand

Representatives of the profession Social worker are quite in demand in the labor market. Despite the fact that universities graduate a large number of specialists in this field, many companies and many enterprises require qualified Social workers.

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Description of activity

The activities of a social worker involve organizing assistance to people and groups in difficult life situations, their psychological rehabilitation and integration.

Uniqueness of the profession

Quite common

The majority of respondents believe that the profession Social worker cannot be called rare, in our country it is quite common. For several years now, there has been a demand in the labor market for representatives of the profession Social worker, despite the fact that many specialists graduate every year.

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What education is needed

Secondary vocational education (college, technical school)

To work in a profession Social worker, it is not necessary to have a higher professional education in the relevant specialty. For this profession, it is enough to have a diploma of secondary vocational education obtained from a college or technical school, or, for example, it is enough to complete special courses.

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Job responsibilities

A social worker identifies lonely elderly and disabled citizens living in the service area and in need of social support Informs them about the types of services provided by social service institutions. Provides assistance in obtaining advisory and information services. Provides social patronage to the population served. Organizes residential repairs, treatment personal plot. Providing fuel, funeral services. Provides first aid. Maintains necessary documentation.

Type of labor

Mostly physical labor

As the survey results show, profession Social worker involves primarily physical labor. Social worker must have good physical training, high strength endurance and good health.

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Features of career growth

After a year of operation and acquisition required experience the social worker is assigned a rank with a corresponding increase in salary. After another three years, the salary increase is 10%, and after 5 years of work - 30%.