A recent national study flagged the UT School of Social Work as endorsing ideological positions, which the school's dean said is false.
The National Association of Scholars, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote academic freedom and a diversity of ideas, released a study last September that profiled schools of social work in 10 of the largest public universities in the nation, UT being one of them. The study focused on what the publication called "ideological indoctrination" or the forcing of beliefs on individuals.
Ashley Thorne, director of communications for the National Association of Scholars, said the information they found sparked a "red light signal" to the association.
Thorne said the study was conducted because the Council of Social Work Education is the only national accrediting organization for social work schools and the association alleges the council has flawed bylaws.
According to Thorne, the agency forces students to "endorse a set of ideological, social and political positions" in order to receive credit and graduate from a social work program.
Barbara White, dean of the UT School of Social Work, said the allegations against the Council of Social Work Education and the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, as well as the schools of social work around the country, are "totally false."
"Being a former president of both of these organizations, I can tell you these allegations have no basis in fact," White said. "When this organization purported to do research, they were looking at curriculum and Web sites only and not the school itself."
White said the dominant theme surrounding the study was "antithetical" to the purpose of the school.
"We do not advocate any particular positions and definitely do not force them on our students," White said. "Our profession is geared toward the issue of people working for justice and equality. And our responsibility is to serve the community."
The study was conducted by reviewing Web sites, course offerings and mission statements for each of the 10 universities.
The adherence to the National Association of Social Work code of ethics requires conformity to these positions and students are often forced to sign a pledge of allegiance to the code, Thorne said.
"We know that when schools have policies like these, there is bound to be issues with students who have different ideologies than the school," she said. "In our study, one student was told she shouldn't be in social work, because she believed abortion was wrong. Not so much that the schools are slanted to the left, but they need to be bias-free."
White said faculty members are required to present policies and ask students to analyze these policies and see how they affect the lives of people social workers serve. She said students coming into the program know the ethics surrounding the profession and know the mission of social workers is to pursue social justice, fairness in society, and not ideology.
"Just because we characterize a political policy does not mean those who disagree with these policies are disenfranchised," White said. "We typically attract people who have been faced with discrimination, and we emphasize that it is essential to be non-judgmental."
Social Work graduate student Suzanne Daly said she has yet to come across professors forcing their students to adopt ideologies on campus but said she has heard of others talking about this issue.
"There are not that many diverse views in this college," Daly said. "It definitely leans toward a more liberal democratic way of thinking, but these views have to do with the basis of the profession."
White said she hopes schools of social work across the nation can look to the good they do to prepare their students for the future.
"Our students are doing great work here at UT," White said. "We have an alumna serving in Iraq, and we have students doing things which our critical to the maintenance of society and to the people."
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