ABSTRACT

This paper explores the experiences of social work practitioners making a career move from front-line practice into academia. Six participants engaged in a focus group and subsequent individual semi-structured interviews to reflect on their transitional experiences. From this, factors that helped or hindered the transition were identified and pertinent themes were generated, explored, and analyzed. The paper concludes that meaningful relationships and having a sense of belonging are crucial to successful transition from practice to academia. Relationships are considered integral to both professional identity and positive experiences, particularly within the first year of transition, though their importance is often overlooked by the employing higher education institution.

摘要

本文探讨了社会工作从业者从一线实践转向学术界的经历。六名参与者参与了焦点小组和随后的个人半结构化访谈，以反思他们的过渡经历。由此，确定了有助于或阻碍转型的因素，并生成、探索和分析了相关主题。该论文的结论是，有意义的关系和归属感对于从实践到学术界的成功过渡至关重要。关系被认为是职业认同和积极经历不可或缺的一部分，特别是在过渡的第一年，尽管其重要性经常被雇用的高等教育机构忽视。