Social work education as professional socialization: A study of the impact of social work education upon students' professional preferences

Professional socialization in social work is the subject of the panel study described in this article. It focuses upon the impact of different social work education programs upon the professional preferences of students in the United States and Israel. The findings indicate that significant change with regard to some of the variables did occur between the beginning and completion of studies. This generally took the form of a decline in preferences though a number of cross-culture differences were observed. The implications of the findings for the issue of professional socialization in social work are discussed.