Experiencing resilience through the eyes of early career social workers

Abstract

Within the social work profession, resilience is integrated into educational programmes, professional development courses and frameworks. Such prevalence reflects the importance of resiliency for the profession. This may be the case in particular for those newer to the profession, where the challenges of managing the adversity synonymous with the social work role are still new, despite an increasing level of responsibility. This study focuses on early career social workers, an important but underexplored career stage within this occupation. The aim of which was to enhance understanding of how resilience is experienced by those who are in a unique transitional period in their careers; no longer students, whilst also not yet experienced social workers. The experiences of resilience for this group was explored through semi-structured interviews with fourteen social workers, all employed within Local Authorities in England. Through thematic analysis, three themes were identified: support, team dynamics, and maintaining professionalism. The findings offer important insights, which can inform and contribute to the supportive environments organisations can foster. As such, the practical implications of the research focus on fostering an environment of positivity, through more guided group supervision and the physical positioning of early career workers within office spaces.