What motivates non-traditional students to choose social work as a major/profession?/¿Qué motiva a los estudiantes mayores a seleccionar el trabajo social como Carrera universitaria/profesión?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15665/re.v11i2.55Keywords:
Estudiantes mayores, Universidades y Centros de educación superior Históricamente negros (HBCU por sus siglas en inglés), carrera en trabajo social, profesión de trabajo social, estatus socio-económico, Código ético.Abstract
Los estudiantes mayores [llamados no tradicionales en los Estados Unidos] forman parte de una población estudiantil universitaria en
crecimiento, sin embargo, nuestra apreciación de los factores singulares que los motivan a escoger el trabajo social como carrera no ha
aumentado. En este estudio cualitativo, se entrevistó a 26 estudiantes mayores –los cuales asistían a una universidad estatal pequeña—
sobre su decisión de escoger el trabajo social como carrera y profesión después de graduarse. Los resultados indican que las experiencias
varían entre los participantes. Los estudiantes mayores experimentaron distintos niveles de motivación, integración a la vida de la
ciudadela universitaria y participación en actividades sociales cuando se los comparó con los estudiantes jóvenes típicos. En general los
estudiantes declararon que ingresaban a trabajo social para servir a los marginados, y también se refirieron a una red de apoyo social
que constaba de la familia, compañeros y apoyo institucional, lo cual incrementó las posibilidades al éxito de completar los requisitos
de graduación, aunque estas redes no siempre estaban disponibles a la mayoría de los estudiantes mayores que fueron entrevistados en
este informe. El aula ofreció una luz de esperanza para la participación de los estudiantes mayores, una oportunidad para fortalecer su
identidad y para establecer conexiones entre los múltiples mundos donde residen dichos estudiantes. Las implicaciones de este estudio
muestran la importancia de reconocer las necesidades de los estudiantes mayores, así como también de dotarlos de un sistema de apoyo
que les permita una experiencia universitaria más placentera.
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