JCERJournal of Contemporary Educational Research2208-84662208-8474Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/jcer.v10i6.15032ArticleAn Analysis of Cultural and Institutional Causes for Predicaments in Social Work Education Based on an Empirical Investigation in Southern Chinahttps://artdesignp.com/journal/JCER/10/6/10.26689/jcer.v10i6.15032DuShasha20261062026-07-14While social work education in China is flourishing currently, it faces various ongoing challenges. This research examines, via non-participatory observation and in-depth interviews, systemic predicaments for social work education in China with the argument that these predicaments stem from a reproduction cycle between cultural devaluation and institutional constraints on social work occupational practice. Culturally, the value of meritocracy and a reliance on informal networks (guanxi) have marginalized social work’s standing in public life. Institutionally, professional autonomy of social work is diluting through absorbing government-purchased services and embedded in underdeveloped occupational systems. Furthermore, these two factors also interact to form a cycle of reproduction. The findings redefine social work educational predicament as a consequence of cultural–institutional effects on social work occupational practice. Breaking this cycle requires reshaping public narratives of social work ethics, reforming autonomy and career ladders of vocation, and innovating practice-directed philosophy in school education.

China Federation of Social Work, 2025, China Social Work Yearbook 2025, Xinhua Publishing House, 16–18.

Social Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, 2024, Number of Applicants for the 2024 National Social Worker Professional Qualification Examination Reaches 1.889 Million, viewed May 8, 2026, https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202406/content_6957562.htm

China Association of Social Work, 2023, 2023 National Research Report on the Development of Social Work Industry Talent, viewed May 8, 2026, http://www.chinaswa.org

Zeng S, Huang W, 2022, A Survey on Social Work Undergraduates’ Professional Commitment. Journal of Social Work Education, 38(2): 123–135.

Liu T, Yi S, Zhu Y, 2023, Does Chinese Social Work Students’ Career Intention Match Their Professional Identity? The Role of Background Factors. The British Journal of Social Work, 53(4): 2392–2415. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac201

Kung WW, Sun N, 2024, Challenges to Theory-Practice Integration of Social Work Education in China: Theory Learning. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development. 9: 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/29949769.2024.2389838

Zeng S, Li X, He X, et al., 2019, The Role of Family in Career Choices Among Social Workers in China. Journal of Social Work, 19(1): 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017318765676

Sun N, Wang X, Kung WW, 2025, Theory-Practice Integration of Social Work Education in China: Field Education. European Journal of Social Work, 29(2): 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2025.2486550

Baikady R, Varoshini N, Jianguo G, 2024, Understanding Social Work Education in China - A Field Snapshot. Social Work Education, 43(8): 2201–2217. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2023.2249920

Liu M, Sun F, Zhang Z, et al., 2021, Enhancing Field Education of Social Work in Mainland China: Perspectives from Students and Faculty Members. China Journal of Social Work, 14(3): 324–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/17525098.2021.1923402

Leung P, 2021, Collaboration with China in Social Work Education: Experiences, Suggestions and Implications. China Journal of Social Work, 14(3): 189–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/17525098.2021.2003936

Wang SB, 2013, The Analysis of the Overlapping and Dislocation Phenomenon in Social Work Agencies Led by University Teachers. Social Work, (4): 5–11.

Wu Q, Yan MC, Tsui M, 2022, Policy-Driven Development and the Dilemma of Indigenization in Chinese Social Work Education. British Journal of Social Work, 52(5): 2879–2897. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcab234

Li Y, Han WJ, Huang CC, 2012, Development of Social Work Education in China: Background, Current Status, and Prospects. Journal of Social Work Education, 48(4): 635–653. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2012.201100049

Liu M, Sun F, Anderson SG, 2013, Challenges in Social Work Field Education in China: Lessons from the Western Experience. Social Work Education, 32(2): 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2012.723682

Chen H, 2025, Social Work in Mainland China: Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Social Service Research, 51(1): 279–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2024.2439095

Su X, Liang K, Wong V, 2021, The Impact of Psychosocial Resources Incorporated with Collective Psychological Ownership on Work Burnout of Social Workers in China. Journal of Social Service Research, 47(3): 388–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2020.1817229

Mo KYH, Ho HWM, 2021, Predictors of Job Satisfaction of Chinese Social Workers in Mainland China. Journal of Social Service Research, 47(6): 823–834. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2021.1928587

Pang J, Zhang Z, Qi F, 2024, Boundary Production of Social Work Organization, Form and Logic: A Case Study of a Social Work Organization in City A in Hainan Province. Social Work and Management, 24(2): 69–78. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.2096-0493.2024.02.007

Liu L, Wang E, 2021, Dual Governance Logic And Operational Dilemmas of Government-Purchased Social Work Service Projects: A Case Study of S City. Sociological Studies, 36(5): 123–145.

Démurger S, Li S, Yang J, 2012, Earnings Differentials Between the Public and Private Sectors in China: Exploring Changes for Urban Local Residents in the 2000s. China Economic Review, 23(4): 850–868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2012.04.004

Zeng S, Cheung M, Leung P, et al., 2021, Major-to-Employment Mismatch in Social Work: A Values-Based Framework Explaining Job-Search Decisions Among Chinese Graduates in Shanghai, China. International Social Work, 64(3): 456–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820905066

Lam CM, Liu Y, Yan MC, 2012, A Challenged Professional Identity: The Struggles of New Social Workers in China. China Journal of Social Work, 5(3): 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/17525098.2012.721166

He X, 2016, The Dilemma of Social Work Education in China: Curriculum Lagging Behind Social Development. International Social Work, 59(6): 1525–1538.

Elman BA, 2013, Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China, Harvard University Press.

Qin H, Li Y, Zhao Y, et al., 2022, Will Higher Wages Retain Social Workers? The Moderating Effect of Job Autonomy. Social Work and Management, 22(4): 31–40.

Ma R, 2007, “The Differential Mode of Association”: Understanding of Traditional Chinese Social Structure and the Behaviors of the Chinese People. Journal of Peking University (Humanities and Social Sciences), 44(2): 131–142.

Bourdieu P, 1986, The Forms of Capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, Greenwood Press.

Kang X, Han H, 2007, Administrative Absorption of Society: A Further Probe into the State-Society Relationship in Chinese Mainland. Social Sciences in China, 28(2): 116–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/02529200701341578

Rossiter A, Heron B, 2011, Teaching social work in an era of New Public Management. Journal of Social Work Education, 47(2): 297–310.

Kim H, Sussman T, Khan MN, et al., 2023, All Social Work Takes Place in a Macro Context: The Gap Between International Social Work Training and Practice. International Social Work, 66(3): 763–779. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208728211049233

Camilleri S, Grech P, 2025, Is Social Work an Endangered Breed? An Analysis of the Challenges for Social Work in Malta. European Journal of Social Work, 28(3): 415–430.

Moorhead B, Bell K, Bowles W, 2021, Mechanisms that Impact the Experience and Sustainability of the Professional Identity of Social Workers. British Journal of Social Work, 51(5): 1775–1792.

Levin Keini N, Ben Shlomo S, Shoval R, et al., 2022, Media Coverage of Child Welfare Social Workers and Its Effect on Professional Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role of Family and Social Support. British Journal of Social Work, bcac222. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac222

Wang X, Jiang H, 2023, Evidence-Based Knowledge, Attitudes toward Evidence-Based Practice, Job Autonomy and Service Quality Perception: The Case of Social Workers in China. The British Journal of Social Work, 53(1): 414–433.

Giddens A, 1984, The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, University of California Press, 66–72.

Wheeler-Brooks J, 2009, Structuration Theory and Critical Consciousness: Potential Applications for Social Work Practice. The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 36(1): 7.