Towards better gatekeeping: Discussion of the findings of a survey of gatekeeping mechanisms in Australian Bachelor of Social Work Programs

Gatekeeping in social work education is an issue of vital importance, but is rarely systematically researched and debated. This paper summarises the results of a survey of Australian Bachelor of Social Work programs regarding their gatekeeping mechanisms. The results indicated that priority was given to academic criteria throughout the course, despite recognition of the importance of personal qualities and values. Counselling out for non-academic reasons was used by most schools, but few had written policies for terminating students for such reasons. The full results of this study are reported elsewhere (Ryan et al. 1997). The aim of this paper is to discuss these results in order to critically examine gatekeeping in social work programs. A model of the gatekeeping process is presented. The issues examined include gatekeeping within a broader social context, the extent to which non-academic criteria should be applied and how these could be operationalised. © 1998, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.