Date of Conferral

8-5-2025

Degree

Doctor of Social Work (DSW)

School

Social Work

Advisor

Yvonne Chase

Abstract

The low representation of social workers serving on school boards is a social work practice problem because it limits their leadership ability to advocate for student mental health and influence policy change at the local and state levels of education. Therefore, addressing this practice problem within the context of clinical social work is crucial for improving student mental health outcomes and overall student well-being. Guided by Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, this qualitative study was conducted to explore the connection between social workers’ leadership self-efficacy and their willingness to pursue policymaking roles at the local and state school board levels. With the intention of understanding the perceived ability to serve on school boards, a basic/generic qualitative research design was used to collect in-depth, nonnumerical information through primary sources consisting of participant responses and open-ended interview questions. Furthermore, thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts created by 12 individual, semistructured interviews via Zoom. Findings revealed that most participants felt optimistic about their leadership ability to serve on school boards and believed they could contribute their social work skills in shaping mental health policy as school board members. The results inform clinical social work practice by highlighting the importance of self-efficacy sources to overcome perceived barriers to social work leadership, supporting the need for future research to explore transformational leadership in Master of Social Work programs to equip students in leadership positions. Acknowledging the positionality of social workers as leaders has the potential to create positive social change at the individual, interpersonal, and systemic levels of leadership.

Download

Included in

Social Work Commons

Share

 
COinS