In this era of fiscal constraint and political conservatism, it is essential that graduate schools of social work recruit and prepare professional practitioners skilled in organizing and planning to play a role in improving the social conditions of functional and geographic communities. To develop a strategy for the future, an urban graduate school with a 25-year history of educating social workers with a community organization specialization studied the career paths and perspectives of its Community Organizing and Planning (CO & P) alumni. This paper reports on the views of over 100 graduates of Masters of Social Work (MSW) programs on their pre- and post-MSW values, jobs, work activities and professional identification.

There was considerable overlap between the activities performed by organizers and administrators, an increase in administrative and supervisory positions, and a commensurate decrease in direct CO and clinical jobs over time. However, many CO & P alumni were engaged in CO & P activities, held CO jobs and titles, and identified as organizers without categorizing or perceiving the job as CO. The vast majority identified as social workers while also retaining a “CO perspective,” operationalized as both a social change orientation, and a client involvement/process approach to practice. Findings suggest both value-based and career-enhancement motivations for pursuing graduate professional education in CO social work; however, prior CO work experience was a better predictor of pursuing CO career track. There is a need for concerted efforts by educators and practitioners to promote and support community organization as a valued component of professional social work.

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