Help Build Our Profession Through Scholarship
Mission
The University of Alabama’s social work PhD program prepares social work scholars who develop and disseminate knowledge.
About
Our PhD program prepares leaders in social work scholarship, research, and teaching. The curriculum addresses theory, research methods, and the critical evaluation of social work policies and practice.
Students in our PhD program benefit from small class sizes, a supportive learning environment and excellent resources. Located less than hour from the Birmingham metro area and surrounded by rural counties, UA’s School of Social Work is the destination for research focusing on the following areas:
- Matters of racial and social justice
- Disparities in health, mental health, services, and social policies
- Economic and social barriers
- Aging and end of life
- Child welfare/well-being
Goals
The goals of the PhD program are to
- provide a rich, supportive environment that enables a group of students with diverse backgrounds and interests to pursue and attain their scholarship and professional goals
- prepare social work scholars committed to social justice, advocacy, and the social work profession, and its clients
- equip our students to make their research meaningful and useful
- prepare students to translate research for use by relevant stakeholders
- prepare graduates as successful educators of future social workers
Why our PhD in Social Work?
Earning a PhD in social work from UA prepares you to solve important social problems with research and to teach future social workers, with guidance and mentoring from nationally and internationally known scholars.
Our students gain knowledge in:
- quantitative and qualitative research methods
- statistics
- practice theory
- social welfare history and policy
- social work education
Faculty research areas include the following:
- Aging and end of life
- Child maltreatment and child welfare
- Health and mental health
- International social work
- Social welfare policy
Our core PhD courses are offered Mondays and Tuesdays during the day on campus in Tuscaloosa. As part of our course of study, PhD students work closely with faculty researchers who are national experts in their fields and who have a wide range of research interests.
PhD students also benefit from our program’s student-focused environment. We provide dedicated work space, computing facilities, and access to funding supportive of your career development.