2029-5820.24.2.5 Why do graduates of social work leave social work?

Abstract

There is huge demand for social workers in Lithuania. Also, there are a lot of graduates in social work produced each year. However, only a small number of graduates stay occupied in social work. The goal of the paper was to explore the causes that determine the decision of social work graduates to withdraw from social work. To find out the possible causes, the qualitative research strategy was employed. As a result, 7 graduates of social work were interviewed. The revealed possible determinants were tested with the quantitative data. The survey method was equipped to collect the data from Vilnius university social work graduates. The logistic regression method was used to test the model. The data analysis results suggest that the graduate of social work will stay in social work if he or she had marks lower than the average, lives and works in the countryside, and has high non-monetary income. And vice versa, if the graduate of social work was studying well, lives and works in the city, and has low non-monetary income, he or she will leave social work for other career possibilities.