Social work faculty interest in aging: impact of education, knowledge, comfort, and experience

As the need for gerontological social workers increases, it is important to assess faculty interest in strengthening and bolstering this area in the classroom and curriculum. This study sought to compare training and experience of social work faculty that identified aging as a teaching or research interest with faculty who did not, and to identify predictors of aging interest among faculty. A national sample of social work faculty members was recruited, and a total of 609 individuals participated in the study. The findings reveal that faculty with an interest in aging differed from nonaging faculty in the areas of knowledge of older adults, personal and paid experience, and graduate and continuing education. In addition, predictors of interest in aging included taking a graduate course, continuing education units, having paid and volunteer experience, level of knowledge of older adults, and comfort level of covering content on aging in the classroom. The connection between social work faculty and student interest in aging are discussed as implications for further social work research and education.