Article i s w

International Social Work

53(1) 101–114
The challenges of © The Author(s) 2010
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modernization of social sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermission.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0020872809348951

work education in http://isw.sagepub.com

developing countries:
The case of Egypt

Hussein H. Soliman
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA

Hesham Sayed Abd Elmegied

Helwan University, Egypt

Abstract
Due to the changes that developing countries are currently facing, social work
educators are forced to assess the curricula in order to help societies deal
with new waves of social problems. This study explores a number of factors
that contribute to the process of modernizing social work education in Egypt.

Keywords
developing countries, Egypt, modernization, social work education

Social work education is increasingly becoming an integral part of higher

education systems throughout the world. However, in many countries the
demand for upgrading and modernizing social work curricula presents con-
textual challenges for social work educators (Ahmadi, 2003). Indeed, in
some regions changes in social, economic and political conditions have
intensified existing problems such as political instability (Craft and
Smaldone, 2002), corruption (Heidenheimer and Johnston, 2002) and pov-
erty (Carter and Barrett, 2006; Pogge, 2005). In addition, new waves
of problems have emerged and become part of the challenges that many

Corresponding author: Hussein H. Soliman, School of Social Work, Southern Illinois

University Carbondale, Carbondale, ILL 62901, USA. Email: soliman@siu.edu

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102 International Social Work 53(1)

countries are currently facing, including drug addiction (Room and

Rosenqvist, 1999), AIDS (Bakilana et al., 2005), unemployment and inter-
nal migration (Adams and Page, 2005). Based on this new reality, social
work educators in many developing countries are struggling with the need
to reassess the values and the purpose of the profession in relation to the
new social, economic and political outlook. Midgley (2001) argues for the
need to examine the construction of social work curricula based on ideo-
logical perspective as a way to enhance global social work together with
regionalized social work practice.
The basic aim of social work education is to prepare qualified social
workers to help people address and solve existing problems, as well as to
participate in the development of appropriate social welfare policies
(Alphonse et al., 2008; Estes, 1992; Healy, 1992; Hoefer, 1996; Mary and
Morris, 1994). However, these goals will not be achieved unless the curricu-
lum is up-to-date and adequate and matches the new changes in societies.
This view is consistent with the call to prepare and develop education mod-
els that are sensitive to the cultural context of each society (Gray and Fook,
2004). Furthermore, this view is based on the assumption that in order to
start work on modernizing the social work curricula, it is important to think
about establishing educational standards that are sensitive to cultural
­contexts (Noble, 2004; Sewpaul and Lombard, 2004; Tasse, 2008).
The experience of countries with the assessment and restructuring of
social work education should be discussed in light of the unique character-
istics and the historical experience of each society. For example, in China
and Taiwan social work education has faced major challenges due to the
social political changes (Chou et al., 2006; Yuen-Tsang, 2002). Historically,
social work education, which had started in the 1920s, was eliminated in the
1950s because of the prevailing political and ideological climate of that
period, but it was reintroduced in the 1980s. Currently social work in China
deals with three sources of tension: first, a conflict in the choosing between
individual treatment and social reforms; second, the reliance on standard-
ization compared with contextual methods; and third, the choice between
professionalism and populism. The need for integrating a capacity-building
model in the social work curriculum has also been discussed in the context
of community development in rural China (Ku et al., 2005).
In another example, the birth of the new democracy in South Africa in the
1990s influenced the orientation of social work education: more focus was
put on the use of diverse methods such as advocacy, community develop-
ment, empowerment, consultation, networking, action research and policy
analysis (relative to traditional case work approaches) (Gray and Mazibuko,
2002; Mamphiswana, 2000).

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Soliman and Elmegied 103

In Russia and the eastern European countries it seems that the interest in
expanding social work education following the collapse of communism has
met many obstacles, including the need to change organizational cultures
and generate support for social work education in universities (Templeman,
2004); the need to redefine the social welfare ideology which had existed
for many years (Cemlyn, 1995); and the need to change the professional
profile and education curriculum to combat new problems such as crime,
unemployment and poverty (Majewska-Galeziak, 1998).
The proposed outcome of modernizing social work education is to equip
future social workers with the expertise, experience and skills to respond to
the needs of various population groups (e.g. children, women and elders) as
a way to ensure social and economic justice for vulnerable groups in society.
The purpose of this study is to examine the problems with social work educa-
tion programs in Egypt and the strategies adopted to reconstruct the curricula
so that it will be more responsive to society’s needs and expectations.
Accordingly, the study can serve as a model for the curriculum development
and modernization of many social work programs in developing countries.

Characteristics of social work education in Egypt

Social work education in Egypt, which started in the 1930s, has gone
through many phases due to social, economic and political changes. Initially,
social work education in Egypt followed the social settlement model, with
the goal of alleviating suffering in poor communities (Abu Baker, 1997). At
that time, the focus of social work education was to utilize existing models
of case work to prepare social workers for work with individuals and fami-
lies who experienced life difficulties as a result of poverty, illiteracy and
other social problems (Osman et al., 1985). During the 1950s there was a
shift towards nationalization and social and economic development, and
social work educators were encouraged to introduce new models of practice
based on social development and community organization perspectives.
From the 1950s through to the 1970s, the government’s role was expanded
through its reliance on socialist ideology, which gave it sole responsibility
for providing for the basic needs of its population, including health care,
housing, education and employment.
The sudden shift during the 1970s from a socialist to a free market econ-
omy was, to some degree, very drastic as the government started to reduce
its investment in specific commitments such as providing public housing
and employment for all citizens. Accordingly, since most of social work
graduates’ work opportunities were in governmental agencies, such changes
represented an obstacle to hiring social workers that caused a rise in

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104 International Social Work 53(1)

unemployment among newly graduated social work students. The govern-

ment of Egypt started to encourage investment and privatization in many
aspects of life such as health care, education, housing and the banking system.
Like many developing countries across the world, Egypt is currently fac-
ing traditional problems such as illiteracy, crime and poverty, as well as
emerging challenges such as the gradual increase in population, the rising
cost of living, unemployment and inflation. The drastic shifts in social and
economic conditions which had started in the 1970s with globalization and
the expansion of technology were not used by social work educators as an
opportunity to examine curricula and introduce new initiatives to develop
programs. Instead, the curricula continued to follow the traditional methods
approach which is focused on case work, group work and community orga-
nization. In the last 25 years, the failure to assess the curricula has caused a
gap between the quality of social work education measured by the level of
knowledge, experience and skills of social work graduates and the need of
society to acquire qualified social workers who are able to utilize new models
of social work practice (Soliman, 2007a). Social workers in Egypt now need
to address problems such as migration, AIDS, drug addiction, increased mar-
ginalization, slum living conditions and children living in the streets.
Abu Almati (2005) has identified a number of problems that have
negatively influenced social work education in Egypt, such as the over-
admission of students to social work programs. This is due to the central-
ized system of admitting students based on their scores at high-school
diploma level rather than according to the college’s expectations; lack of
qualified faculty members relative to the number of students (the ratio of
faculty to students can reach 1:500 in some schools); the over-dependency
on western models of social work education; the use of old methods of
teaching that rely solely on lecturing; and lack of coordination between
schools of social work and the job market. For these (and other) reasons,
many social work graduates are unable to find work.
Due to increasing pressure from society to adopt new strategies and provide
high-quality education, social work educators have started to discuss how to
revise social work education in Egypt (Mokhtar, 2006). A number of initiatives
have been prepared to address these issues, focusing on: first, the interests of
faculty members and their receptivity to change; second, the structure of social
work programs and the degree to which they can be flexible; third, the contri-
bution of social work to society; and fourth, the level of support and resources
available to the profession from educational institutions and the government.
If faculty members are convinced that graduates’ abilities are satisfactory,
they will advocate partial revision of the program instead of comprehensive
change. Lack of a clear understanding of the changes in society can cause an

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Soliman and Elmegied 105

attitude supporting the concept of no need to change. Change is generally

viewed as a stressful experience in higher education institutes in Egypt, as in
other countries. It may therefore be helpful to examine the different views on
modernization held by social work program administrators, deans and direc-
tors (who have the ability to influence change), and social work educators
who are part of the faculty. Different views may provide ideas on the expecta-
tions and directions of potential change programs.
Specifically, this study addresses the question of how social work educa-
tors in Egypt view the challenges of the modernization of social work edu-
cation. The study also presents strategies developed by one school of social
work in Egypt for program modernization. A number of hypotheses were
articulated based on a review of the history and views on modernization of
social work education and the available literature on social work education
in Egypt and other developing countries. These hypotheses include:

1. Social work educators’ views on modernization are associated with their

perceptions of the status of the profession in Egypt.
2. Social work educators’ perception of curricula is influenced by their
views of the status of social work in Egypt.
3. Social work educators’ views on modernization correlate with their
understanding of the challenges facing social work.
4. There is a difference between social work educators and social work
administrators in their views on modernization.

Methodology
The population in this study consists of social work educators in Egypt,
including faculty members and program administrators (deans and directors)
in 13 schools of social work. A random sample of five schools was selected,
with a total of 150 members. Participants were invited to voluntarily partici-
pate in the study, with a letter explaining the study procedures and assuring
respondents about confidentiality of identity and information provided. A
total of 111 surveys were received, reflecting a response rate of 72 percent.
The study instrument was based on the available literature on social work
education and the ideas generated from discussion of the topic following a
presentation on the future of social work education in Egypt. The instrument
consists of four subs cales and a section for comments and suggestions. The
subscales or ‘domains’ in the instrument were defined as follows.

1. Perception of the status of the profession: the extent to which social

work educators consider the contribution of their profession to Egyptian

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106 International Social Work 53(1)

society, recognition by society of their profession and social work’s

influence on the legislative process.
2. Views of the social work curriculum: the ideas of social work educators
on the current status of the curriculum in terms of its standards, design
and its match with social work knowledge in the world. The domain
also addresses the methods used by social work educators to teach the
curriculum in terms of the use of technology and how the curriculum
contributes to students’ professional development.
3. Perception of educational modernization: the social work educators’ per-
ception and attitude towards improving social work education in terms of
the methods needed to bring about the changes necessary to enhance the
social work curriculum.
4. Views of the challenges to social work education: the views of the social
work educators regarding the types of problems that the current social
work education system is facing based on their experience working in
the field.

Examples of items included in the survey included such topics as:

first, there is a need to assess the society’s perception of the social work
profession; second, social work’s contribution in society has decreased in
the last 10 years; third, in order to enhance the qualification of the gradu-
ating social workers, there is a need to revise existing curricula; fourth,
methods used in teaching social work courses are in great need of upgrad-
ing; and fifth, although changing social work curricula represents a chal-
lenge, it is the responsibility of all faculty members to participate in the
process.
The process of assessing the validity of the instrument included content
and construct validity, as four prominent Egyptian faculty members reviewed
and discussed the content of the instrument in relation to existing initiatives
involving the restructuring of the curricula. In terms of construct validity, the
instrument has drawn its concepts from the education literature on curricu-
lum development and the relevancy of curricula to educational goals. Based
on the literature on international social work education, a number of concepts
were discussed, including the use of indigenous models to enhance curricula
and the cultural context for social work education. Results of the reliability
analyses of the four subscale domains are in Table 1. The reliability of the
subscales ranged from .78 to .85 with an overall reliability coefficiency of the
entire scale at .78. Reliability reflects the internal consistency of the sub-
scales, ranging from .78 to .85, with an overall reliability coefficiency of the
whole scale of .78.

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Soliman and Elmegied 107

Table 1.  Reliability of domains

Domain No. of items Value of r

Perception of status of social   8 .80

work profession
Perception of social   8 .81
work curriculum
Views on challenges to social   9 .78
work education
Perception on the modernization   7 .85
of social work education
Total no. of items 32 .78

Results and findings

Descriptive analyses of the study sample show that 36 of the participants are
male (56.8%) and 48 are female (43.2%). The distribution of the partici-
pants by rank is 23.4 percent professors, 31.5 percent associate professors
and 45 percent assistant professors. The mean number of years of teaching
is 6.8, the mean years of professional experience is 8.3 and the average
number of publications in Egyptian social work journals is 3.96.
The results of the study provide evidence of factors that relate to percep-
tion on the modernization of social work education. In terms of hypothesis
testing, it seems that the views on the status of the social work profession
do not match with educators’ views on the modernization of social work
education (hypothesis 1). The results of correlation analysis show r 5 .139,
reflecting the strength of the association, and p 5 .149, reflecting the sig-
nificance of such an association. This means that social work educators
believe that modernizing the profession should happen regardless of soci-
ety’s perception of the profession. However, the status of the social work
profession does seem to relate significantly to educators’ perceptions of the
current conditions of social work curricula (r 5 .520, p 5 000). This may
indicate that social work educators have adopted the view that in order to
improve the status of social work as a profession, it is necessary to improve
the quality of the curriculum.
Another strong correlation was found in the perception of modernization
influenced to some degree by social work educators’ views on the challenges
facing social work education (r 5 446, p 5 000) (see Table 2). This may
reflect the educators’ opinions that modernization of social work education
can help address the challenges of social work education in Egypt.

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108 International Social Work 53(1)

Table 2.  Pearson correlation matrix

Perception on 1 2 3 4

1.  Status of SW 1.00

2.  Challenges –.116 1.00
.224
3.  Curriculum .522** –.166 1.00
.000 .081
4.  Modernization –.139 .446** –.167 1.00
.145 .000 .079

In terms of hypothesis # 4, ‘testing the difference of views on modernization

between social work “educators” and social work administrators, “directors
and deans”’, the results of t-test analysis show a value of t 5  1.272, with a sig-
nificance value of p 5  .206. With the mean scores of the ‘educators’ 5  30.92
and the ‘administrators’ 5  32.69, it is clear that there was no difference between
the two groups in views on modernization. Comments and suggestions made
by the study participants and the results of the statistical analyses are summa-
rized in the following section which augments the findings of the study.

Strategies on modernization
As the need for modernization becomes an issue in higher education, one
social work program has started a review of the levels and the direction of
such a change. Based on the observations from this process, below are
described a number of trends which have emerged and which were concep-
tualized as part of the directions for change.

1.  Creating the need for change

The process of formulating and reaching consensus on the importance of
change should be achieved through open discussion among social work
educators to identify enough evidence to support such a change. In a num-
ber of regional and national conferences organized in the late 1990s, social
work educators in Egypt met to discuss the need to upgrade and modernize
the curricula. However, different opinions on the process and the directions
of change still exist. In other words, while there is a consensus among edu-
cators that the status of social work in society will not improve without an
examination of the curricula, there is no agreement on the level of change
and the nature of change required. As mentioned, some participants, that is,
the deans and directors, believe there is a need for modification so that the

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Soliman and Elmegied 109

curricula will be restructured to reflect new knowledge around the world,

but other participants (educators) continue to believe that the change should
be partial and gradual. It is to be hoped that the two sides will continue their
discussion so as to bring about some form of agreement on the pros and
cons of the change and the requirements needed to achieve such a change.

2.  Assessment of the social work’s current contribution to

Egyptian society
The process of modernizing social work education also requires reviewing
the profession’s actual contribution to Egyptian society. In other words,
modernizing social work education cannot and should not be achieved in
isolation from an understanding of the status and level of the profession’s
contribution. The debate on the need to examine the status of social work
within society has begun; however, the process of assessing social work’s
contribution to society has started in a number of studies. Furthermore, in
the last five years the question of change has also been addressed in a num-
ber of studies and presentations at social work conferences which have
highlighted the decrease in the status of social work in the Egyptian society.
Accordingly, this has opened up debates on the responsibility of social work
educators to address this issue and find means for improving the image and
the contribution of social work. In one of the international conferences orga-
nized by Helwan University, Soliman (2007b) stated that there is a need to
establish a national association that monitors and works for the advance-
ment of the social work profession.

3.  Initiatives and views on the restructuring of social work curricula

As part of the new trends in higher education in Egypt, each college was
asked to develop new initiatives to determine the level and direction of the
curricula in the near future. A central committee at Helwan University was
established in order to review the proposal and make recommendations on its
value and contributions. In terms of social work education, faculty members
and administrators were encouraged to participate in the process. For exam-
ple, Al-Faramawy’s proposal (2006) was presented for review and national
and international evaluators commented on its strength and limitations before
it was submitted to the central committee. Based on the review, the proposal
tends to build the curricula on the existing program structure; however, the
addition of specific courses to enhance the theoretical foundation of the cur-
ricula was included in each education department. For example, a course was
added on generalist practice in the case work department. Another course

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110 International Social Work 53(1)

was added to the group work department to reflect the ecological perspective.
Although such initiatives seem to advocate new directions, lack of consis-
tency in the theoretical foundation is still there. This can be also found in the
continuing reliance on the field method as the main structure of the educa-
tional curriculum.
For example, in Egypt, to move from the methods foundation to another
appropriate foundation, i.e. generalist practice or social development, the
focus should be on integrating different levels of knowledge with practice
with individuals, families, groups, organizations, the community and greater
systems. The need for an advanced level of social work education such as
concentrations in field practice; ageing; health; mental health; children, youth
and families; social policy; and social administration would be extensions of
advanced-level social work graduate study.

4.  Resources and capacity-building to achieve modernization

Plans and activities for expanding social work knowledge have started in
Egypt. The main social work school at Helwan University, Cairo, decided
to open up to international social work education. In the last five years
college administrators have started communications with schools of
social work in many countries and representatives of these schools have
made visits to the school to discuss issues and meet faculty members and
students.
These activities were important because visits included the exchange of
curricula and information on program structure. One of the major activities
in terms of modernization of social work education began in 2007 when the
dean of the Faculty of Social work at Helwan University decided to expand
the annual conference of the school to be an international conference. For
this to occur contact with one faculty member at Southern Illinois University
Carbondale was made who was invited to serve as the international coordi-
nator of the conference. These efforts have resulted in the invitation of 16
professors from the USA to participate in the annual conferences in 2007
and 2008 where they presented research to faculty members at Helwan
University and other social work educators in Egypt who were invited to
participate in the conferences.
In 2008, the conferences included faculty development section work-
shops, in which social work educators in Egypt participated. They were held
one day before the conference. Evaluations of the conference outcomes
were made in which faculty members participated and gained the opportu-
nity to learn from new areas of knowledge presented in the conferences.

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Soliman and Elmegied 111

5.  Evaluating the learning experience

The process of modernizing social work education will require developing
an education program, revising the curriculum, implementing it and estab-
lishing evaluation strategies to ensure that the program is achieving its
intended goals. As stated earlier, it would be helpful to form committees in
a social work association that acts as a guardian for change; this will also
help develop standards and instruments that can be used to assess and eval-
uate the curriculum. It is important to say that revising a curriculum cannot
achieve its purpose without identifying methods of evaluation.

Implications for international social work education

The review of the status of social work education in many developing coun-
tries has shown the need to examine the outcomes of social work programs to
determine the quality of social work education and its contribution to the
society. As societies change and the nature of social problems continue to be
influenced by global pressures, the need for social work education to modern-
ize becomes imperative. Without considering change and upgrading social
work curricula, the quality of social work and its contribution to the society
may suffer tremendously. It is important to state that modernizing social work
is the responsibility of social work educators in both developing and devel-
oped countries. The example of social work educators from the USA partici-
pating in Helwan University conferences demonstrates the ability of social
work educators in developing countries to act on their responsibility to assist
social work programs in developing countries to revise and modernize the
curricula.
This study has taken Egypt as an example, considering its long history
and role in spreading social work education in the Middle East. In general,
since social work education became an international topic, an examination
of challenges for social work modernization may be relevant to social work
educators across the world. This is what Midgley (1990) called ‘learning
from the Third World’. Specifically, it seems that social work education in
Egypt faces challenges which may detract from the profession’s abilities
and its relevance to society’s efforts to address its problems.
Although social work educators in Egypt seem to understand the need
for change and the challenges facing the profession, they are still unclear
about the process, magnitude and direction for achieving such a change.
Therefore, the attempts made by the major social work school in Egypt to
open up to other programs across the world, and to invite social work educa-
tors to be part of the process, contribute to social work educators’ awareness

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112 International Social Work 53(1)

of new trends in social work education. This can bridge the gap in knowl-
edge and serve as a model to help faculty and administrators understand the
process for curricula change (Jayaratne, 2007). This may also help to lessen
resistance among faculty members, provide avenues to learn new methods
of teaching social work and offer strategies for evaluating outcomes. Finally,
Egypt and other developing countries can benefit from the findings of the
study and the process presented for identifying and examining major factors
related to modernizing social work education.

Note
This paper was presented at the 53rd Annual Program Meeting, Council on Social
Work Education, San Francisco, Ca, 27–30 October 2007.

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Author biographies
Hussein H. Soliman is Professor of Social Work in the School of Social Work at
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA.

Hesham Sayed Abd Elmegied is Professor of Casework, Faculty of Social Work,

Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt.

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