BUSSW Researchers Find Opportunities for Social Work & Race Equity in the Youth Workforce Development Field
A large body of research shows opportunities to engage in the workforce are essential for young people and their communities. The youth workforce development field serves this need, connecting young people with job training, employment, and more. In two recently published articles, researchers at Boston University examined how these systems are address racial inequities and how social work can be more engaged to provide leadership in the fields. They present qualitative analyses exploring how critical race theory (CRT) and social work can make programming more equitable and more effective.
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Collins and Spindle-Jackson also examined the opportunities for highlighting social work in youth workforce development in a second article published in the Journal of Social Work. Citing previous research that found a lack of research on social work’s role in workforce development, they discuss how and why the profession can return to its origins as a field supporting youth employment and economic self-sufficiency. They also emphasize the potential for social work to help shift workforce development to a strengths perspective which they say is critical to increasing the field’s success. Their findings drew from interviews conducted with more than 60 organizational leaders and youth specialists in the workforce development field, as well as an analysis of existing peer-reviewed research.
The researchers’ recommendations to leverage social work and CRT to support youth workforce development lay the groundwork for significant improvements in how agencies and organizations can support the populations they serve and lead to better outcomes for communities.
Adrianna Spindle-Jackson, LMSW, is a doctoral candidate in BUSSW’s PhD in Social Work Program. Formerly a family therapist at an emergency shelter for youth, her work focuses on housing security and stability, including experiences of homelessness, physical and cultural displacement, and effects of gentrification and neighborhood change. Her dissertation research examines Black residents’ experiences of neighborhood change in Detroit, Mich., with a focus on the role residents’ social networks play within these experiences.
Mary Collins, PhD, is a BUSSW professor and an internationally recognized expert on child welfare. The author of more than 90 articles and book chapters, Collins’ research focuses on developing supportive policies and programs for older youth in state systems. She is a faculty affiliate with BU’s Center for Innovation in Social Science, Center for Antiracist Research, and Initiative on Cities, and recently received a Fulbright Specialist Award to collaborate with a women and children’s rights organization in Ghana.