The Journal of Social Work Education (JSWE) invites abstract submissions for a special issue titled “Social Work Education at a Crossroads: The Impact of Anti-DEI Movements on Social Work Education.” The special issue is scheduled for publication in Summer 2026. Please direct questions about this special issue to jswe@cswe.org.
 

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2025

Guest Editor Information

Dr. Stephanie Lechuga-Peña (Arizona State University)

Dr. Ashley Daftary (University of Nevada-Reno)

Dr. Michele Hanna (University of Denver)
 

Background

Social work education is at a critical juncture. In a time when the profession’s core values, including service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, and the importance of human relationships are under attack through legislation targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), educators are navigating new and deeply politicized challenges. Across the United States, legislative efforts to limit or ban teaching about race, systemic oppression, gender identity, and other DEI-related topics are creating environments of fear, censorship, and contradiction for faculty and students alike.

Social work education cannot retreat from its ethical and professional commitment to ADEI (anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion). Unlike many other disciplines, social work education is explicitly guided by a professional code of ethics and the Council on Social Work Education's 2022 accreditation standards that mandate the preparation of students to work with diverse populations, challenge structural oppression, and engage in anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice. These mandates are now in direct tension with Executive Orders and state-level policies that seek to suppress ADEI-related content. This special issue will explore how social work educators, programs, and students respond to these tensions, resist erasure, sustain ethical obligations, and reimagine pedagogy in an increasingly hostile landscape.

This special issue seeks to document and analyze the real-time impact of anti-DEI legislation and rhetoric on social work education. It will explore how social work programs grapple with these restrictions, how faculty and students are experiencing and resisting them, and how the field can adapt while staying grounded in its core values.

This special issue is intended for social work educators, deans, program directors, students, field instructors, community partners, and accreditation bodies. It also invites reflection from allied disciplines intersecting with social work to advance social justice education while exploring the following key topics:
 

• The Impact of Anti-DEI Legislation on Social Work Curriculum
• Academic Freedom and the Teaching of Social Justice in Social Work
• Student Experiences in Social Work Programs Amidst Anti-DEI Movements
• Accreditation Standards and the Future of ADEI in Social Work Education
• Preparing Social Work Students for Practice in a Politicized Landscape
• Faculty Advocacy and Resistance in Social Work Education
• Sustaining Culturally Responsive and Anti-Racist Pedagogy
• The Emotional and Psychological Toll of Anti-ADEI Efforts on Social Work Educators and Students
• Social Work Education and the Broader Political Landscape
• Community Partnerships and Social Work Education in the Anti-DEI Era

Special Instructions for Abstract Submissions

• Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and submitted by Friday, August 1, 2025. (Note: The abstract of the full article submitted should be no more than 250 words, must be included as part of the manuscript text, and is considered in the page count.)
• Abstracts should include problem focus, brief conceptualization or description of innovations, and implications for social work education. Abstracts of empirical articles should mention the research aims, methods, results, and conclusions.
•  Avoid abbreviations, diagrams, citations, and references to the text in the abstract.

The Guest Editors will provide abstract dispositions by Monday, September 1, 2025. 

Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit a full manuscript for peer review. Final manuscripts must be submitted by Monday, November 3, 2025, via the ScholarOne portal.
 

Final Manuscript Formats 

Standard JSWE manuscript formats are welcome for the special issue, including empirical and conceptual articles (maximum 25 pages) and Notes (brief reports 10–15 pages) focused on field learning, research, teaching, or practice. Authors must comply with the manuscript preparation guidelines noted by JSWE’s submission guidelines.

 

Key Dates

• Abstract submissions due by Friday, August 1, 2025
• Abstract decisions completed by Monday, September 1, 2025
• Manuscript submissions due by Monday, November 3, 2025
• Manuscript decisions completed by January 16, 2026 
• Revisions completed by February 16, 2026
• Final decisions completed by March 16, 2026
• Publication date: Summer 2026    

NOTE: Abstracts that are not submitted using Submittable and articles submitted in ScholarOne that were not pre-selected by the Guest Editors will not be considered for the special issue. Manuscript submissions for regular issues can be submitted at any time through ScholarOne at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jswe.

 

Please direct questions about this special issue to jswe@cswe.org.
 

Please use this form to request data from CSWE's Annual Program Survey.
 

Please follow the steps to submit your request for review by CSWE research staff. Note that CSWE may reach out for additional information and clarification before fulfilling a data request. Submission of this form does not guarantee that CSWE will be able to accommodate your request.

   Please use this form to request:

• Previous Annual Survey responses from your program 
• Faculty data requests
• Student data requests
• Program data requests
• Other data

CSWE will work to fulfill all data requests in a timely manner, please do not reach out to check on the status of a data request. If CSWE is able to fulfill your data request, you will receive the data in an email from research@cswe.org. If CSWE is unable to fulfill a data request, you will receive an email stating we were not able to fulfill the request. Please note that all data request decisions at this time are final. 

 If you have any questions, please email research@cswe.org

Join the CSWE Center for Diversity, Social & Economic Justice in one of two ways:

Share Social Media Content

Have you viewed content that has moved you? Does it address a particular competency, either broadly or very specifically? Please share the content and source(s) of that content with us so we can amplify it in hopes that it will be of equal or more benefit to others.

Participate in a Zoom interview/conversation

Participate in a Zoom interview to address how diversity is showing up in your life. We will use clips from those interviews as microcontent to share on CSWE social media.

The CSWE Center for Diversity, Social & Economic Justice website will showcase the best multimedia and social media content to facilitate a deep appreciation of diversity within social work education, practice and research. Along with written resources, there is increasing reliance by students, educators, researchers and practitioners on multimedia content to both understand and convey various elements of social work education, research and policy. 

Your voice matters! Your views matter! We are interested in hearing from you directly – this will be original content. The goal is to share original content widely as well as amplifying vetted publicly available content that promotes diversity, especially in the context of the nine competencies. Original content will include microcontent taken from 10-15min Zoom conversations. In addition, we may plan Instagram (IG) live sessions during the APM or other CSWE convened gatherings, with short conversations about various aspects of diversity. These conversations could center around specific themes, for example an upcoming APM, on specific themed months like Black history (February), social work (March), mental health awareness, AAPI, and women’s history (May), pride (June), Hispanic heritage (Sep-Oct), domestic violence and disability awareness (October), and Native American heritage month (Nov), for example.  

Through CSWE’s social media accounts, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, Center content will reach a diverse audience. Each post will utilize hashtags related to the specific content in addition to #CSWEDiversityCenter, #socialwork and #oneCSWE. In addition  to the original content we will create, have you viewed content that has moved you? Does it address a particular competency, either broadly or very specifically? 

Please share the source(s) of that content with us so we can amplify it in hopes that it will be of equal or more benefit to others. 

The CSWE Center for Diversity, Social & Economic Justice website will be dynamic, a go to destination for lively, respectful, stimulating dialog about what diversity means to students, educators, researchers and practitioners. 

Your voice matters. Your journey matters. This is your opportunity to submit short blog entries, ranging between 400-500 words. 

The aim of this exercise in meaning making and meaning sharing is to elicit entries addressing how diversity can be manifested in each of the nine competencies. Which vantage point reflects your journey? Are you able to speak to intersectionality, addressing either identity or experience or both, with regards to oppression or privilege? Select one or more competencies. Address the various aspects of diversity as stated in the 2022 EPAS (p. 9 and p. 16), including but not limited to age, caste, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, generational status, immigration status, legal status, marital status, political ideology, race, nationality, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Blog entries could include personal reflections, research and practice notes, and lessons learned in the classroom. 

Remember, this is your journey and we hope it inspires others to broaden their own understanding of experiences with privilege, power, alienation, oppression, marginalization, poverty, and outright discrimination. 

One of the challenges associated with trying to convey the letter and spirit of each Educational Policy and Accreditation Standard (EPAS) social work competency is the lack of readily available literature, particularly as it relates to the various forms of diversity. 

Here is your opportunity to contribute towards a section on the Center website that allows for the showcasing of existing peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, books, research reports, and other written resources. 

Examine the nine competencies – pick one or two or all and use the online form to share a resource, along with just a couple sentences to justify the inclusion of that source. What specific benefit did you derive from that resource that may help others to appreciate the depth and breadth of that competency? How does that resource address knowledge, skills and values particularly with regards to promoting diversity and mastering that competency? 

The goal is to provide students, educators, researchers and practitioners access to the state-of-the-art literature to vivify each of the competencies.    

Thank you for your interest in serving as a CSWE Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) volunteer. Please review the position descriptions below before filling out the application form. We welcome you to apply for multiple roles based on your availability to fulfill the outlined responsibilities.
 

• MFP mentor role description
• MFP alumni speaker role description
• MFP guest speaker role description
• MFP application reader role description
• IMFP mentorship program description
   

CSWE MFP adheres to the principle that diversity of persons, perspectives, and program representation is a strength in guidance of the program. The volunteers shall reflect the diversity of the profession and of those we educate and serve. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at mfp@cswe.org.

Thank you for your interest in creating a curricular guide as part of the EPAS Curricular Guide Resource Series. Curricular Guides are used as an educational resource in various settings, particularly in the classroom. Please read the following guidelines to understand the curricular guide development process. 

Curricular Guides are created jointly with Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) staff and task force participants, led by two co-chairs and nine competency chairs. Task force members can be selected by CSWE staff and co-chairs or by an open call. Task force participants may include CSWE members, social work professionals, and/or interdisciplinary professionals. 

Each guide takes approximately one year to create with copyediting, printing, and promotion of the guide completed by CSWE. Curricular Guides are grant-funded, costing approximately $45,000- $50,000 to produce. CSWE recommends proposers identify or already have a funding source; CSWE may supplement additional grant sources on a case-by-case basis. 

Use this form to propose a curricular guide. CSWE administration will review the form and contact you within 2 weeks of review.