Navigating the Social Work Job Market in Challenging Times Webinar: Strategies for Doctoral Students, Postdocs, and Supporting Faculty
November 6, 2025 | 2:00 – 3:30 pm Eastern
Deadline to register November 4, 2025.
Context
On June 13, 2025, SSWR held the webinar “Helping Early Career Scholars Navigate the Road Ahead,” hosted by the SSWR Task Force on Safeguarding Social Work Research. The webinar launched a new initiative to support doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and pre-tenure faculty. A consistent theme we heard was concern about a shifting job market with fewer tenure-track opportunities, rising workloads, limited research funding, pay inequities, unclear pathways, and pressure to balance research, teaching, and service. Many attendees asked for targeted mentorship on navigating the job market, building strong application materials, and securing postdoctoral, tenure-track, and industry roles. We heard you, and we designed this webinar to deliver that support.
Description
This 90-minute webinar directly responds to the needs voiced by doctoral students and postdocs at SSWR’s June 13 listening session. We will focus on navigating a constrained job market by teaching practical steps for finding opportunities across sectors, tailoring CVs and cover letters, crafting strong research and teaching talks, interviewing with confidence, and negotiating offers that reflect your goals and constraints. Faculty and recent hires will share concrete examples for presenting a clear scholarly identity, positioning your work amid funding uncertainty, and leveraging mentorship to open doors to postdoctoral, tenure track, and mission-aligned roles beyond academia.
Grounded in SSWR’s mission to advance social work research and strengthen the research workforce, this webinar emphasizes clear, repeatable strategies you can use immediately. We will examine how divisive politics shape institutions, including funding uncertainty, hiring freezes, curricular scrutiny, and shifting expectations for service. Panelists will discuss how to align your research with institutional priorities without compromising values, assess organizational climate and fit, and protect time for scholarship under pressure. We will map pathways across research-intensive universities, teaching-focused institutions, research centers, and mission-aligned roles beyond academia.
This session will be co-chaired by the SSWR Task Force on Safeguarding Social Work Research, which includes SSWR Board members Mary Ohmer, Justin Harty, and Fatima Mabrouk, along with SSWR Fellow Cheryl Hyde, in collaboration with the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE).
Goals
- Provide doctoral students and postdocs with step-by-step strategies tailored to today’s constrained, politicized job market across academia and beyond.
- Strengthen mentoring and peer networks through SSWR and GADE to support sustained, values-aligned searches.
- Build readiness to deliver strong research and teaching talks, handle campus visits, and interview confidently amid heightened scrutiny.
- Sharpen skills to assess institutional climate and fit, evaluate workload and support for scholarship, and negotiate offers, start-up, and mentoring plans.
- Map realistic pathways to postdocs, tenure-track roles, research centers, and mission-aligned positions where community-engaged, policy-relevant work can thrive.
Audience
Social work doctoral students at any stage who are preparing for or are actively on the job market. Especially relevant for students targeting faculty roles, postdocs, research staff positions, or aligned careers that advance social work research, teaching, and practice. Faculty supporting doctoral students on the job market are welcome as well.
Panelists
Mimi V. Chapman, MSW, PhD
President, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE Profile)
Frank A. Daniels Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Doctoral Education, UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work (Faculty Profile)
Rich Furman, MFA, MSW, PhD
Career, Life, and Writing Coach for Scholars, Rich Furman Coaching LLC (Coaching Website)
Professor Emeritus, University of Washington Tacoma School of Social Work & Criminal Justice (Faculty Profile)
Jennifer Greenfield, MSW, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work (Faculty Profile)
Karen Hopkins, MSW, PhD
Professor, University of Maryland School of Social Work (Faculty Profile)
Elizabeth Lightfoot, MSW, PhD
Director and Distinguished Professor of Social Policy, Arizona State University School of Social Work (Faculty Profile)
Moderators
Justin S. Harty, MSW, LCSW, PhD
Assistant Professor, Arizona State University School of Social Work (Faculty Profile)
SSWR Early Career Director-at-Large
Fatima Mabrouk, MSW
Doctoral Candidate, New York University Silver School of Social Work (Professional Website)
SSWR Doctoral Student Director-at-Large
Mary L. Ohmer, MSW, PhD
COSA Chair and Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work (Faculty Profile)
SSWR Past Vice President