Inquiry

Social Work emphasizes the social context of personal problems. Social Workers use their skills and knowledge to facilitate change with and for people experiencing difficulties and the impact of injustice and oppression.

Graduate Diploma (G.Dip.)

The Graduate Diploma in Community-Engaged Research and Evaluation aims to foster critical and ethical practice in community-engaged research and evaluation. Students who complete the program will understand the historical, theoretical and ethical bases of community-based research (CBR) and be able to apply and communicate CBR principles; understand and be able to apply critical conceptual frameworks to evaluation practices in social services and communities, and identify justice-oriented alternatives or improvements; demonstrate a capacity to undertake a community-engaged research or evaluation project that reflects concepts and ethical frameworks highlighted in the program.

Graduate Diploma (G.Dip.)

Master of Social Work (M.S.W.)

The primary objective of the MSW: Critical Analysis of Social Work is to provide opportunities for students to develop knowledge and skills necessary for the critical analysis of social work, and to examine relation to social work practices and social policies. Students will develop: an appreciation of the entanglement of fact and value, of material and discursive framings of social problems and the conceptualization and implementation of responses to them the ability to apply these skills and modes of understanding to substantive areas of interest and in their research practice the capacity to move from analysis of social work/social welfare issues or problems to consideration of the possibilities and limits of action and change in practices or policies. The program leads to a Master's degree; it is also suitable preparation for advanced study at the doctoral level.

The primary objective of the MSW: Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities is to foster progressive leadership in the community and social service sectors. Specifically, the program supports students’ development of: conceptual, theoretical and analytical skills in relation to social work practices and social policies.

appreciation of the changing conditions in social services and communities and the complexities and possibilities of ethical leading in the contemporary the ability to apply these skills and modes of understanding to the practice of leadership. Students entering the MSW in Critical Leadership must have experience working in social services or community in order to be eligible for admission.

The M.S.W. program at McMaster University does not focus on clinical skill development per se. Applicants wanting to further develop their clinical skills may wish to apply to graduate programs of other Schools of Social Work.

Doctorate (Ph.D.)

Building on our unique MSW program that emphasizes the critical analysis of social policy, social work practice and leadership, the PhD program focuses on social work and social justice. It is designed to stimulate and support scholarship on the ways in which social policies and social work practices can contribute to redressing social inequalities and enhancing social justice.