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    Lectorate Professional Identity of the Social Worker

    The lectorate Professional Identity of the Social Worker researches how the professional identity of the social worker can be strengthened, particularly in the light of interprofessional collaboration in the field of care and technology.

    “In Rotterdam, professionals are working harder than ever to increase the future prospects of people in disadvantaged situations. I want to contribute to this by working with educational and practical partners to improve the metropolitan living environment for people in vulnerable circumstances.”

    Leonie le Sage Professor Professional Identity

    About the lectorate

    There has long been talk of a crisis in social work. The importance of social work is clear, as is the value orientation of the profession, but there is a need for a more solidly based repertoire of actions, a stronger connection between the values of social work and the actions of the social worker, and a stronger profiling due to a blurring of boundaries between social work and other professions. How can we strengthen the professional identity of social workers, and thus the study objective of the Social Work study programme?

    An important social task is a sustainable, liveable metropolitan environment and healthy lifestyle. This requires social workers in the first and second line to collaborate in an interprofessional manner, to have well-founded knowledge and skills, and the ability to identify social inequalities and put them on the agenda in a policy context. How can social workers contribute in a methodically thorough and normatively critical way in interprofessional collaboration to a sustainable and healthy metropolitan living environment and lifestyle?

    The lectorate is part of the research programme Inclusion.

    “If you want to underline what social workers have in common, what their professional identity is, you have to be able to describe it well and clearly. That is what we are currently working on. We are developing a new professional profile for the social worker. And we hope to collaborate with Leonie's lectorate on this as well, because we think that the research into professional identity can play an important role there.”

    Jan Willem Bruins Dean BPSW Professional Social Workers' Association (BPSW)