Perceptions, Competencies and Motivation for Study Choice: Occupational Therapy and Social Work Student Perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18552/ijpblhsc.v8i1.519Keywords:
occupational therapy, profession, perception, student, social workAbstract
Caring for others is one of the most important attributes for individuals who want to be occupational therapists or social workers. Students are not necessarily aware of the challenges and responsibilities of the helping relationship. Deeper insights are needed into these aspects in order to train and prepare students to become competent, work-ready professionals. This study therefore aimed to describe student beliefs about their chosen profession, the competencies they perceived were most important to develop, and their motivators for their choice of profession. In this explorative study, 51 first-year students from occupational therapy (22 students) and social work (29 students) participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically. Although participants had difficulty defining their future profession, they agreed it was all about helping people. A range of competencies was identified, such as establishing interpersonal relationships, sensitivity to difference, communication, flexibility, and teamwork. Differences emerged according to the chosen profession, such as creativity and imagination for occupational therapy students, and administrative skills and the desire to effect change for social work students. Concerning the choice of profession, most participants wanted to help others and engage in human relationships. Diversity and variety of tasks were also attractive elements of both professions. From the beginning of the program, educational institutions should describe more clearly occupational therapy and social work, so that students can develop a realistic vision of their future profession.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2018). Occupational therapy: Improving function while controlling costs. https://www.aota.org/About-Occupational-Therapy/Professionals.aspx
AvenirSocial. (2014). Profile of social work professionals [Profil des professionnel-le-s du travail social]. http://www.avenirsocial.ch/cm_data/AS_Berufsbild_FR_RZ_low_28.10.14.pdf
Bradley, C., Maschi, T., O’Brien, H., Morgen, K., & Ward, K. (2012). Faithful but different: Clinical social workers speak out about career motivation and professional values. Journal of Social Work Education, 48(3), 459–477. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000043
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Byrne, N. (2015). Exposure to occupational therapy as a factor influencing recruitment to the profession. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 62(4), 228–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.12191
Careau, E., & Vallée, C. (2014). Qualitative research and scientificity [Recherche qualitative et scientificité]. In S. Tétreault & P. Guillez (Eds.), Practical guide to rehabilitation research [Guide pratique de recherche en réadaptation], (pp. 489–508). De Boeck Supérieur.
Careau, E., Vincent, C., & Swaine, B. R. (2014). Observed interprofessional collaboration (OIPC) during interdisciplinary team meetings: Development and validation of a tool in a rehabilitation setting. Journal of Research in Interprofessional Practice and Education, 4(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.22230/jripe.2014v4n1a118
Carter, N., Bryant-Lukosius, D., DiCenso, A., Blythe, J., & Neville, A. J. (2014). The use of triangulation in qualitative research. Oncology Nursing Forum, 41(5), 545–547.
https://doi.org/10.1188/14.ONF.545-547
Craik, C., & Zaccaria, J.-M. (2003). The career choice of first-year occupational therapy students: A follow-up study. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(11), 531–534. https://doi.org/10.1177/030802260306601107
Creswell, J. W. (2014) Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
Csikai, E. L., & Rozensky, C. (1997). ‘Social work idealism’ and students’ perceived reasons for entering social work. Journal of Social Work Education, 33(3), 529–538. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.1997.10778891
Davis, J. (2008). Occupational therapy students’ metaphors for helping. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62, 242–250. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.62.2.242
Egan, G. (2018). The skilled helper: A client-centered approach (2nd ed.). Cengage.
Fleming, J., Gilbert, J., McKenna, K., & Heath, T. (1997). First year occupational therapy students: Profile and perceptions. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 44(3), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.1997.tb00763.x
Freund, A., Cohen, A., Blit-Cohen, E., & Dehan, N. (2017). Professional socialization and commitment to the profession in social work students: A longitudinal study exploring the effect of attitudes, perception of the profession, teaching, training, and supervision. Journal of Social Work, 17(6), 635–658. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017316651991
Hackett, S., Kuronen, M., Matthies, A.-L., & Kresal, B. (2003). The motivation, professional development and identity of social work students in four European countries. European Journal of Social Work, 6(2), 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369145032000144421
Hanson, J. G., & McCullagh, J. G. (1995). Career choice factors for BSW students: A 10-year perspective. Journal of Social Work Education, 31(1), 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.1995.10778836
Imbert, G. (2010). The semi-directive interview: On the border of public health and anthropology [L’entretien semi-directif: à la frontière de la santé publique et de l’anthropologie]. Recherche en Soins Infirmiers [Nursing Research], 102(3), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.3917/rsi.102.0023
International Federation of Social Workers. (2018). Global definition of social work. https://www.ifsw.org/what-is-social-work/global-definition-of-social-work/
Larson, K. E., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2017). Cultural competence and social desirability among practitioners: A systematic review of the literature. Children and Youth Services Review, 76, 100–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.02.034
Maxwell, J. A. (2013) Qualitative research design. An interactive approach (3rd ed.). Sage.
McKenna, K., Scholtes, A. -A., Fleming, J., & Gilbert, J. (2001). The journey through an undergraduate occupational therapy course: Does it change students’ attitudes, perceptions and career plans? Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 48(4), 157–169. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1630.2001.00248.x
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis (3rd ed.). Sage.
Miller, S. E. (2013). Professional socialization: A bridge between the explicit and implicit curricula. Journal of Social Work Education, 49(3), 368–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2013.796773
Plano Clark, V. L., Anderson, N., Wertz, J. A., Zhou, Y., Schumacher, K., & Miaskowski, C. (2015). Conceptualizing longitudinal mixed methods designs: A methodological review of health sciences research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 9(4), 297–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689814543563
Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63–75. https://doi.org/10.3233/EFI-2004-22201
Swiss Association of Occupational Therapists and the Committee of Swiss Schools of Occupational Therapy. [Comité des Écoles Suisses d'Ergothérapie et Comité des Écoles Suisses d'Ergothérapie.]. (2005). Professional profile of occupational therapy [Profil professionnel de l’ergothérapie]. https://www.ergotherapie.ch/download.php?id=416
Taylor, R. R. (2008). The intentional relationship: Occupational therapy and use of self. F.A. Davis.
Tétreault, S., Gulfi, A., & Kühne, N. (2016). Relationship to the Other: Exploring its evolution within social work and occupational therapy students. Grant application to the Swiss National Science Foundation, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Turpin, M. J., Rodger, S., & Hall, A. R. (2012). Occupational therapy students’ perceptions of occupational therapy. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 59(5), 367–374. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1630.2011.00988.x
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons License "Attribution-NonCommercial No Derivs 4.0 International" (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) which permits others to use the publication as long as the authors are appropriately cited.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The Author grants to Coventry University an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to publish this article in this journal in addition to the licence granted at paragraph 1 of this copyright notice.
