60% of social-work students have fears about the job

A new all-Ireland survey found that child care, welfare, and protection was 'clearly the most popular area' among social-work students. File picture. 

More than  25% of those studying social work have had  personal interaction with social services, according to a new all-Ireland survey. Almost 60% of social-work students had fears about working in the profession, including over possible stress and burnout.

'Social Work Students on the Island of Ireland: A Cross-sectional Survey' is the first comparative survey of its kind on the island of Ireland and involved social-work students in the six institutions that have such work programmes, including Queen’s University Belfast and University College Cork (UCC). The anonymised online survey received 240 completed responses.