10th Annual Social Work and Social Care Research in Practice Conference - Belfast Castle, Belfast, United Kingdom: Evaluating the Experiences of Social Work Graduates Over time: Findings from an Exit Survey of Final Year Students.

There are currently 275 commissioned places for social work training in Northern Ireland. However, a recent workforce review has projected that the overall number needs to increase as the supply of social workers has reduced, and the number of vacancies has grown.

Messages from the health and social care workforce strategy (Department of Health, 2018) acknowledge recruitment difficulties, increasing administrative workloads, the need to develop roles reflecting the ageing workforce aligned to the pension age, greater opportunities for flexible working patterns, and offering clearer pathways for career development. Regional recruitment into social work posts has been challenging and has resulted in increased expenditure on agency staff, causing additional pressure on the Health and Social Care budget, instability for teams, and a demoralising impact on the permanent workforce. Information is needed from student social workers, preparing to graduate and in the early stages of their social work career, regarding basic demographic data, levels of motivation to practice social work, and preferences or specific needs regarding employment. Given the concerns regarding well-being and resilience within the profession, further information is needed to capture changes in the early stages of a social worker’s career.

Aim of Study
To improve understanding of how the well-being, resilience, motivation, and employment of student social workers change in the first 18 months after graduation. This presentation will outline findings from Time 1 of this longitudinal study (immediately prior to graduation).

Methodology
A self-report anonymised online survey was administered to all final year social work students in the academic year 2021/2022. The survey was completed by 176 students (response rate=65.4%).

The Time 1 survey captured demographic data, mental wellbeing, resilience, motivation, social work training, satisfaction with training and placements, perceived readiness and competence to practice, and future employment plans.

Analysis
Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS. Wellbeing and resilience scores were calculated for each participant. Additional analyses were conducted to examine the effects of age, sex, caring responsibilities, disability and university on wellbeing and resilience scores, current motivation, readiness to practice, satisfaction with teaching and placement.

Qualitative data was analysed using the Braun and Clarke (2006) six-step approach to thematic analysis. Initial coding and analysis of data was conducted by two researchers with all authors reviewing and refining the data until underlying ideas, assumptions and themes were identified.

Summary
The majority of participants were female (86.5%), White (97.7%), with no long-term health conditions (83.5%) and a mean age of 30.7 years. The majority had ‘normal’ resilience (74.5%) and no depression (72.2%). The most useful aspect of SW training was practice learning opportunities (81%) and university teaching (34.7%). The majority (83.6%) were satisfied with the quality of their Practice Learning Opportunities (PLOs).
Levels of motivation declined during training.

Conclusions and Implications
The paper will draw out several implications for social work training in terms of enhancing the resilience and wellbeing of students and for support to newly qualified social workers to enhance their motivation and retention within the social work workforce.