ABSTRACT
Differences in career patterns, and perhaps qualification levels, may contribute to feelings of marginalisation relative to ‘mainstream’ academic colleagues, and irrelevance to the field of social work. The management role was not seen as a way out of teaching or research, but as an additional area of responsibility. Some were not choosing management roles or had moved into positions where the management element had shifted from direct responsibility for social work education to a wider brief including research and development work with related professionals. Identity was explored by seeking information about the bodies which people join, or on which they have a representative role, and interviewees were asked for self-definitions and information about where they gain professional support and stimulus. Women chaired the organisation through much of the 1990s with men in the role of secretaries, and most of the sub-committees are convened by women, with the exception of Probation.
