The Stigma Behind Social Work

March 17st marks "World Social Work Day" a time during the year used to reflect on the enormous contribution social workers make to society, often critiqued or undermined in the media. A typical conversation about my social work degree goes something like this:

"What are you studying?"
"Social Work"
"Okay, so does that mean you talk to people?"
"Somewhat.. yes you could say that. Let's just go with - I will be helping people of marginalised communities".

I don't blame people for not knowing what social work is. It's often misunderstood, not talked about in the media, and not spoken as a "legitimate" field of study (whatever that means). At the most basic level, social work is about helping people. I am currently in my 2nd year of my Social Work and Arts degree at the University of Sydney and am liking it. I can really see myself in this field and really feel like I am able to lead others to empower their own lives and make a difference. Although I myself feel this way, it seems that the rest of society doesn't. Okay, so maybe social workers don't get paid $100,000 per year as per our lawyer counterparts, but why is it that this is the case?

My first instance of this stigma was being asked what I study by a co-worker at my part-time job.
"Oh, there's a lot of screwed up people in our society ain't there! Going to be hard to help those people out for the rest of your life! Hmm guess it seems that you don't care about money either. That's sweet, kudos to you".
And here we have two dangerous yet perfectly true examples of stereotypes of social workers. Discouraged by life and struggling to make ends meet. I replied with a sly, "Looks like there will be an abundance of jobs for me then!"

Yes, you may be thinking, I have indeed yet to enter the work force, and yet to understand how the whole employment industry works, but holding such a perception is rather flawed. I for one feel sorry for my co-worker for two reasons. 1. They based the predicted value on my work based on income. They failed to understand the concept of understanding, comprehension and compassion. I was being judged upon how much money I earned. But is this the measure of success? Is this how we should be evaluating our lives upon the amount of income we receive in our bank accounts? Surely we are mocking the very meaning of life itself by measuring the wealth in our banks. How was to say that we measure the value of life based upon the happiness we derive from it? How much we are able to squeeze the quintessential value of life through the worthless that is money.

As a social worker, I particularly hope to look towards revolutionising the way social work is seen within the community, and aim to gain greater awareness of the great things social workers do. It's time social workers lead clients to taking charge and control of their own lives through inspiring and innovative ways. Too often we (I'm not sure if I can quite say that just yet given I'm not qualified but anyway!) are overlooked in contributing to the community initiatives. It's important to continue to foster and support these types of sectors in order to continue to overall welfare of our whole society. This includes nurses, speech pathologists, (...) and numerous others.

So the next time your unconscious bias strikes when you ask someone what they do for a living - stop, think, and most importantly understand, the contribution they make to society itself. Nothing is more interesting, more powerful and more beautiful than seeing someone who is genuinely passionate about what they are studying, what they apply their lives to, and how they plan to go about it. Passion is something that can not be forged, nor can it be contained, and that is rather a career that you simply can't put a price on.