Intersectionality: Why it Should Matter to Social Work Education

Intersectionality is a theory that addresses how a person’s race, gender, sex, and other unique identifying characteristics impact issues of oppression and their access to systems of power. This theory has traveled from the origins of the criminal justice system to a variety of disciplines including medicine, psychology, sociology, and social work. The Council of Social Work Education recognized the value and importance of intersectionality in 2008 when they added the theory to the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Though intersectionality has been required to be infused into social work curriculum for the last 14 years there is limited research that evaluates if and how programs are in fact doing this. The three unique products of this Banded Dissertation seek to uncover the history of intersectionality in social work education and how programs are integrating this critical theory into courses. This Banded Dissertation, through a conceptual paper will first explore the journey of intersectionality to social work education and practice. The second Banded Dissertation Product highlights the results of a qualitative study aimed to investigate whether intersectionality is infused in MSW field education and field seminar syllabi. Finally, the third Product was an oral presentation of the conceptual paper which was presented virtually at the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors annual meeting in April 2021.