CUSSW international program

[inquiring minds]

It seems like a lot of you are interested in the international program and so I would like to give you some feedback i have heard from those that are currently taking that track: Go to SIPA unless you are very interested in learning about social work in general. There is only about 1 international class in social work dept. Yes, you can take classes at SIPA but again unless you are very interested in general social work classes for the whole first year, most people I have spoken to say they wish they were going to SIPA.

[annie a]

It seems like a lot of you are interested in the international program and so I would like to give you some feedback i have heard from those that are currently taking that track: Go to SIPA unless you are very interested in learning about social work in general. There is only about 1 international class in social work dept. Yes, you can take classes at SIPA but again unless you are very interested in general social work classes for the whole first year, most people I have spoken to say they wish they were going to SIPA.

Good to hear this feedback as I am a prospective CUSSW student and this message has come across in quite a few instances when speaking with current/previous CUSSW students. However, it sounds to me that students often enter this program with different expectations that are more aligned with the SIPA program or they don’t fully understand the process of obtaining work internationally or within the international sector.

For example, many people I know who have gone to SIPA have done so in interest of pursuing policy analysis work and are quite interested in working within the UN and on more administrative/academic levels; less within 'the field.' (I stress that this certainly does not apply to all SIPA students, but many I have known!) In this case, I do see how SIPA would offer a superior academic experience if you were going to research aid distribution in West Africa, for example.

However, if your interest was to be a coordinator/director of a gender-based violence program on the Thai-Burma border, for example, with say the IRC, one of the most important things they would be looking for is a clinical background. With a social work psychosocial background, combined with existing overseas experience, there are quite a few international job opportunities that will open up to you, but would not open up if you had a degree from SIPA. If you want to be a researcher for an international think tank, by all means go to SIPA! But a degree from SIPA is not going to do as much for you if you want to be a technical advisor on sexual violence in the Congo.

I say this because I have been working overseas for three years without a clinical or social work background (I have a more theoretical MPH degree) and I have been told on several occasions that I need a more clinical background to go further into the field of working within the GBV sector with refugees. I can’t tell you how often I wished I had gone for a more ‘hands-on’ degree like an MSW over the MPH which is much more general. (Not to say an MPH is not worth while, it just was not the best fit for me)

This is only one example, but I believe it would apply to many of the subsectors of the international social welfare field that students are interested in. I understand the allure of working overseas – but jobs are highly competitive and the field is saturated with unemployed people with law degrees from NYU and MS degrees from SIPA. In short, this is not what gets you hired! It is the combination of overseas work (this is most important – two but normally three years is needed and can often be gained from Peace Corps or through other volunteer orgs) and practical skills that will catch people’s attention.

SIPA sets you up with a wonderful background in international affairs/development that is obviously superior to CUSSW academically, however the MSW will prepare you for a so very much if you want to work with grassroots communities, refugees, UNHCR, and more. I am dreading the first year at CUSSW in many ways – I know I don’t want to be a caseworker with substance abusers – but I do know understand that I will gain valuable skills that will greatly increase my employability through the process.

I guess I would like to wrap this up by saying that pursuing a career in international development work does not come to you by way of a superior academic degree although it can help with initial contacts (many of my friends/colleagues fall into this category) but is rather heavily based on real world experience, proof of cross-cultural competence and having practical skills to offer others.