An Analysis of Cultural and Institutional Causes for Predicaments in Social Work Education Based on an Empirical Investigation in Southern China

¹ School of Social and Public Administration, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang 524048, Guangdong, China; Department of Social and Cultural Studies, Jiangsu Administration Institute, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China,

JCER 2026 , 10(6), 94–111; https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v10i6.15032

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Abstract

While social work education in China is flourishing currently, it faces various ongoing challenges. This research examines, via non-participatory observation and in-depth interviews, systemic predicaments for social work education in China with the argument that these predicaments stem from a reproduction cycle between cultural devaluation and institutional constraints on social work occupational practice. Culturally, the value of meritocracy and a reliance on informal networks (guanxi) have marginalized social work’s standing in public life. Institutionally, professional autonomy of social work is diluting through absorbing government-purchased services and embedded in underdeveloped occupational systems. Furthermore, these two factors also interact to form a cycle of reproduction. The findings redefine social work educational predicament as a consequence of cultural–institutional effects on social work occupational practice. Breaking this cycle requires reshaping public narratives of social work ethics, reforming autonomy and career ladders of vocation, and innovating practice-directed philosophy in school education.

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