Feelings of incompetence - Is Cultural Competency Enough?

 Hello Friend, 

I hope you are doing well.

Today I wanted to share my thoughts about a certain aspect of social work education that sort of bothers me.

After completing my BSW, I was thinking about what my future plans are for my career. I am hoping to move to South Korea in the future and practice social work there. I realized though that at the moment, my education had not prepared me much for this at all. From my experience, it appears that the curriculum fully focuses on working with American clients, in America. International Social Work or practicing in another country is just not discussed at all. 

I understand that I am in the minority here, as only approximately 2.7% of Americans end up moving abroad (link). Even if someone does not plan on moving out of the United States, students are graduating unprepared to be able to work with clients in other countries. A majority of social work education in the United States focuses on cultural competency. While that is important, it is often done so from the perspective of not being in the minority. If one were to work in a country or with clients from a country where the social worker would be in the minority, the education would not be as helpful. When looking to my future, I am met with a feeling of uncertainty. I am White, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Christian Male, so I am VERY much not used to being in the minority. I have lived my life surrounded by privilege and not having really lived in a position where I can properly experience being the minority. I feel like my education has not helped me to prepare for the inevitable shock I will get upon becoming the minority when I move to South Korea and having to be culturally competent to the majority. 

In terms of going forward, I believe that it should become mandatory in social work undergraduate programs to have training on international social work. While I do like the National Association of Social Workers (I hope to do an article on the membership experience of this soon), in my BSW experience, I do not recall a teacher ever mentioning the International Federation of Social Workers. Having at least one class solely dedicated to international social work and preparing students to be able to work with clients in other countries and possibly move and practice in a country other than the USA, is critical. 

What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you think I should do further research on this issue? Do you feel like there are any areas where your degree has not prepared you for your career goals?

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Benjamin B.