Social entrepreneurship: (re) building the students discourse of the Social Work Practicum

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. In the history of Social Work there are numerous successful experiences that subscribe to the entrepreneurial capacity of the profession. The characteristics and definition of social entrepreneurship have a certain complementary dimension with the defining aspects of Social Work: it promotes change, social development, social cohesion, and empowerment .This article aims to construct and analyze the students' discourse on social entrepreneurship in Social Work, and its relationship with empathy and creativity. METHOD. A mixed methodology was applied to analyze and construction of the discourse in a representative sample of fourth-year Practicum students in the 2017/2018 academic year of the bachelor’s degree in Social Work. The four focus groups worked on eight semi-structured questions related to the scope of being a social
entrepreneur in Social Work and the professional skills linked to social entrepreneurship. We used the Nvivo11© software as a complement to the speech analysis. RESULTS. The students build their discourse on the conviction of the relationship between social entrepreneurship and Social Work and how empathy and creativity reinforce the implementation of initiatives on social entrepreneurship. They perceive that social entrepreneurship in Social Work is good and necessary; but is risky due to the difficulties in accessing available resources. They express the need for a specific subject in social entrepreneurship during their degree studies. DISCUSSION. The ambivalent discourse of the students on social entrepreneurship in Social Work is a triple opportunity in the Practicum subject to advance and consolidate social entrepreneurship as a private practice of the profession, making the training received more profitable and returning to society the knowledge they have acquired during their higher education.