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Dear Colleagues - The Issues Affecting Doctoral Education
We support our students in their research with the communities in which their deep passion and strong scholarship come together for good.
Friday, March 14, 2025
by: GADE Board of Directors
Section: Statements
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Dear Colleagues,

We know that across higher education we are living with profound uncertainty. Many of us are concerned about how best to admit a new class of students. We are worried about supporting students already in our programs. We wonder what the employment landscape will look like for graduates. Perhaps we are experiencing threats to or actual curtailment of our own research programs because of cuts in federal funding. We are being told what words to use and what words to retire in ways that harken back to the McCarthy era. The daily news brings a barrage of actions and none of us knows which ones will stick and which ones may sort themselves out over time. Coping and concentration are hard.

The GADE Annual Conference in April will give us a chance to talk deeply about our current reality and to find both inspiration and ideas from one another. For those who cannot attend, we will continue our new tradition of virtual “coffee chats” to provide each other with updates and support. At the conference, our keynote speaker is Ms. Stacey Abrams, JD, someone who has found ways to stay centered and focused in a myriad of challenging circumstances. She is a keen observer of the national scene and a dedicated change maker. We look forward to learning from her. Likewise, CSWE has agreed to have their government relations partner, Lewis-Burke, that is regularly on Capitol Hill brief us on federal actions that will impact doctoral education.

When the path is unclear, the only choice is to look for the next right action in the areas over which we have influence. GADE’s mission is to promote excellence and equity in social work doctoral education.
To that end, we must remember all that we value:

  • We believe in the dignity and worth of each person – every single one.

  • We believe in teaching our students the full range of history and skills that will allow them to be competent and compassionate social worker leaders.

  • We believe in the importance of social work research and scholarship.

  • We believe in the dialectic. Opposing forces produce the best solutions. We should not shy away from conflict or difference. Entertaining a range of ideas makes us better.

  • We believe in listening as a powerful tool for understanding, learning, and intervention.

  • We believe that people and societies are interconnected. Global perspectives and engagement are critical.

  • We believe in speaking up with and for those who have less power to do so. Advocacy is a key part of our profession from which we will not shy away.

Some may rightly ask whether we should name a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. At the moment, DEI acts as a Rorschach test, so deeply weaponized that to use it invites attack. As Isabel Wilkerson said at our most recent Society for Social Work Research Conference, we need new words and there are many to choose from. Social Work has always been committed to individuals, communities, and groups that have been put on the margins by the larger society.

For GADE, that commitment has not changed. We support our students in their research with the communities in which their deep passion and strong scholarship come together for good.

Thank you for all you do for the profession, your students, and your community.

Signed,
The GADE Board of Directors
Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work