Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education
The Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education (Women's Council) is responsible for providing awareness about the status and role of individuals who identify as women in social work education. The council also works for the full participation of individuals who identify as women, uplifting the work of individuals who identify as women in social work education, facilitating mentorships for peers, junior faculty, and students through their education journey and into leadership positions in social work education.
Activities include an Annual Networking Breakfast and Mentor Recognition Fund and the Feminist Scholar, Feminist Manuscript, Community Impact, and Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) Manuscript Awards.
Violence Against Women and Children Manuscript Award
This award, presented during the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, recognizes the author of a manuscript that most advances feminist knowledge in the field of violence against women and children. The author is expected to present this paper at the APM.
The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding scholarship of early career scholars working in the area of violence against women and children in social work education. The awardee must be an early career scholar who is the sole author or primary author of the manuscript. For the purpose of this award, an early career scholar is defined as a doctoral student or an academic professional who earned their highest degree (either an MSW, DSW, or PhD) no more than 7 years previous to application.
2021 VAWC Manuscript Award Recipient
Saltanat Childress, MSW, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Texas-Arlington School of Social Work. Dr. Childress’ research focuses on the prevention of interpersonal violence across the lifespan (e.g., child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences, such as child abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence, and community violence), with a focus on populations in low- and middle-income countries and immigrant and refugee populations in the United States. Her research program is focused on developing, adapting, and evaluating preventive interventions to strengthen protective family processes, improve co-parenting relationships, and build family financial capability and assets to improve child and family well-being among vulnerable groups. Her current projects focus on the prevention of interpersonal violence through developing and evaluating integrated multilevel family-centered, school-based, evidence-informed interventions, taking into account how culturally specific factors condition responses to interventions. Dr. Childress’ research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and has been featured in media outlets such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Her social work practice background is in community development, economic empowerment, and safety planning for intimate partner violence funded by USAID, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and European Commission in Central Asia. Her current studies are funded by the U.S. Department of State, Qatar Foundation International, and National Institutes of Health. Her award-winning manuscript is titled, “’Plates and Dishes Smash; Married Couples Clash’: Cultural and Social Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Women Domestic Violence Survivors in Kyrgyzstan.”
Recently Released Statement on Social Justice
The members of the Women's Council worked to create a statement in support of Black faculty, staff, and students in social work education. It is the ouncil's first step in an ongoing effort to lift up the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color voices and scholarship in the profession. Visit the Social Justice Community on CSWE Spark to read the statement.