On the Role of Occupational Social Workers as “Informal Workplace Educators”

• In Event: Social Theory and Social Change

Proposal

In the context of research on workplace learning, the question of who belongs to the personnel of this field is an important one. Most studies so far have focused on professionals considered “formal workplace educators” such as trainers, coaches, or continuing education specialists. However, there is still a lack of empirical studies that focus on “informal workplace educators” (Ostendorf, 2012), referring to professionals who have other roles in companies, but who still carry out educational tasks to a certain extent. In order to address this research gap, this paper aims to shed light on a specific group of professionals, which is becoming increasingly important due to current discussions on topics such as corporate social responsibility and (mental) well-being in the world of work (Nguyen, 2023). This is the staff of occupational social work (OSW).

OSW has a unique history in Germany. Its core task is nowadays to help employees in organizations such as business enterprises, educational institutions or health care facilities to cope with psychosocial problems. However, recent studies point out that OSW has a very diversified task profile. In addition to providing counselling sessions, OSW professionals also offer a variety of courses for employees and managers at workplaces (Baumgartner, 2022; Nguyen, 2023). The topics of these courses relate to both professional challenges and issues in private life. Thus, OSW could be considered a field of practice that is not only relevant for social work research, but also for (adult) education research as it helps to facilitate workplace learning in organizations.

Against this background, this paper focuses on highlighting workplace learning initiatives of occupational social workers through case studies based on empirical findings. Therefore, selected research results from an explorative cross-sectional study conducted from 2020 to 2022 are presented. The study investigated which work tasks occupational social workers in Germany perform in practice and which competences they need for this. In the scope of the study, expert interviews (Meuser & Nagel, 2009) were conducted with 16 occupational social workers. The content analysis procedures combined a deductive-inductive approach (Kuckartz, 2019; Mayring, 2022).

This paper aims to initiate a discussion on in how far occupational social workers can be seen as “informal workplace educators” (Ostendorf, 2012) and what potentials for research and practice can be derived from this. Although it focuses on the case of Germany, its implications can be used as a starting point for further research as there are other countries that also have OSW or similar programs (Maiden, 2001).

References
Baumgartner, E. (2022). Themen und Positionierung der Betrieblichen Sozialen Arbeit - empirische Analyse zu Stand und Entwicklungen in der Deutschschweiz. In E. Baumgartner (Ed.), Betriebliche Soziale Arbeit in der Schweiz: Geschichte, aktueller Stand und Herausforderungen (pp. 58–73). Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Juventa.
Kuckartz, U. (2019). Qualitative Text Analysis: A Systematic Approach. In G. Kaiser & N. Presmeg (Eds.), Compendium for Early Career Researchers in Mathematics Education (pp. 181–197). Cham: Springer Open.
Maiden, R. P. (Ed.) (2001). Global Perspectives of Occupational Social Work. Binghamton (NY): Haworth Press, Inc.
Mayring, P. (2022). Qualitative Content Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC, Melbourne: SAGE.
Meuser, M., & Nagel, U. (2009). The Expert Interview and Changes in Knowledge Production. In A. Bogner, B. Littig, & W. Menz (Eds.), Interviewing Experts (pp. 17–42). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nguyen, H. L. (2023). Betriebliche Sozialberatung im Kontext von Corporate Social Responsibility: Eine empirische Untersuchung zu Arbeitsaufgaben und Anforderungen in der betrieblichen Sozialberatung in Deutschland. Bielefeld: wbv Media.
Ostendorf, A. (2012). Informal workplace ‘educators’: The hidden protagonists of workplace learning. In L. Chisholm, K. Lunardon, A. Ostendorf, & P. P. Pasqualoni (Eds.), Decoding the meanings of learning at work in Asia and Europe (pp. 67–76). Innsbruck: innsbruck university press.

Author

• Hoang Long Nguyen, SRH Fernhochschule – The Distance Learning University