Why are They Different? Background, Occupational Choice, Institutional Selection and Attitudes of Social Work Students

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Abstract
64 students in their first semester of a four year BA program in social work were found to have social attitudes and occupational values that differed significantly from those of their contemporaries who majored in the social sciences (N = 75). The study attempted to determine whether social background, individual occupational choice or institutional selection could account for these differences. The attitudes of the social work students were practically identical to those of a comparison group (N = 58) of unsuccessful applicants for the same school of social work. Therefore institutional selection procedures could not account for the differences between the social work and the social science students. It was found that the differences in attitudes between social work students and candidates on the one hand and social science majors on the other hand persisted when differences in social background and previous work experience were statistically controlled. It was therefore concluded that individual occupational choice was the main source of the attitude differences found.