DSW Showcase Student Presentation

This capstone project will explore three primary products exploring critical facets of social work administration. The first product, a systematic literature review, investigates how organizational policies influence social work administrators’ well-being, role clarity, and supervisory efficacy. The review highlights the challenges posed by administrative burdens and policy gaps, highlighting the need for organizational policies that foster clarity, reduce strain, and support staff retention. The second product, a conceptual paper, reviews the historical divide between micro and macro social work practice. The product highlights gap in administrative leadership training within social work education and details the ineffective efforts to address this gap. Lastly, it introduces an innovative framework that integrates servant leadership and empowerment theory with management skill development to address gaps in social work leadership training. It proposes a pathway to equip social workers with vital managerial skills, aligning with ethical values and enhancing organizational inclusivity and diversity. The third product, a practice application paper, proposes actionable steps and an “upskilling and reskilling” program for social workers interested in advancing into management positions. The paper discusses the organizational responsibility to support the continued growth of their employees and identifies the benefits for organizations who employ this training program. Together, these works provide a compelling roadmap for advancing social work leadership through targeted training and policy reform, offering practical solutions to promote sustainability and effectiveness within the profession.