Listen to thisJust this once I’d like to be really positive in my regular column and report on some good news in Ireland. Social Care is the most popular course of choice in my college at the moment with a projected intake of some 150 students into year one this September. This leaves us in a pretty healthy state even allowing for a potential fall-off rate of 10% over the 3 years of the Diploma programme.
It is not only the case with Athlone Institute of Technology. All of the training colleges have witnessed a massive jump in interest and applications. But, why is this the case? Why is social care more popular than ever, even allowing for all the scandals emerging on an almost monthly basis in this country and the fact that the pay scales are not wonderful in comparison to other jobs?
One explanation might be the fact that there is a downturn in the global IT economy and students are fearful of studying courses that do not lead directly to jobs. The idea of going to third-level college simply for an education is, I would argue, a thing of the past in Ireland. Students are attuned now to economy. Over the past five years, IT was very popular in the colleges, so much so that there was a proliferation of private colleges offering education and training. This has all changed. There is also a serious fall-off in interest in science and technology courses. Research indicates that this may be due to “stuffy" modes of learning in schools which turns students away from the physical sciences later in life. This is considered to be such a serious issue that the Irish government has established a body to review the situation.
There is also the more human side to the story. I have met, and interviewed, many young adults who have spent 2-5 years in IT and simply don’t like it, don’t find it fulfilling and want to experience something different. They often don’t quite know what it is they want to do, but have an idea that they “want to work with people". What better opportunity, I always ask them, than Child and Youth Care?
So, back to social care. Despite the fact that social care has been poorly marketed in many secondary schools, and particularly so with regard to males (males only accounting for 4.1% of my students this academic year 2001/2 out of a class of 195) increasing numbers of males are looking to this area. There is a potential market out there that the colleges need to access and we need to be more commercially aggressive than we have in the past. Although there are thousands interested in social care this year, the situation could be radically different again next year. Eighteen year-old students are a fickle bunch sometimes and we, in education, cannot rest on our laurels.
One of the more interesting findings in a national study I was a co-author on a couple of years ago (Wells, Ryan, McElwee, Boyce, Forkan, 2000) was that experience of social care/Child and Youth Care in a family constellation was a predictor of someone choosing social care as a career later in life. Simply put, if a thirteen year-old girl had positive experiences of an older sister being in care, she might elect to become a social care practitioner herself later in life. I am always struck by the number of Child and Youth Care workers who have significant personal experience of the child protection system prior to taking up places on a college course. These are people with true knowledge that can enrich our learning. So, I face into the summer vacation period content that when I return in September I will have rows upon rows of expectant, smiling faces just waiting to embark on that journey into self. Something to look forward to.
Wells, J.S.G., Ryan, D., McElwee, C. N., Boyce, M. and Forkan, C. J. (2000). Worthy, not Worthwhile? Choosing a Career in Caring Occupations. Centre for Social Care Research, Waterford Institute of Technology
