A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Social work students’ and social workers’ policy engagement on social media in Finland
Authors: Salonen, Sanni; Kallio, Johanna; Jaakola, Anne-Mari
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Social Work Education
ISSN: 0261-5479
eISSN: 1470-1227
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2025.2601686
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: No Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : No Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2025.2601686
The role of social media has expanded within the realm of policy engagement (PE). Social media serves as a valuable tool for advancing social work’s mission to highlight inequities and injustices in public discourse. We empirically examine Finnish social work students’ and social workers’ PE activity on social media. Do Finnish social work students and social workers engage in PE through social media? Furthermore, how active are they in this domain? We also explore how the components of the Civic Voluntarism Model (CVM)—resources, psychological engagement and recruitment networks—are connected to their social media PE activity. Our nationwide survey data (n = 1071) includes both Finnish social work students and social workers. Our findings reveal that most of them engage in policy-related activities through social media, however the forms and intensity of engagement vary. The most common activities that were participated were rather passive, such as following societal and political discussions. Moreover, in line with the CVM, expertise and interest in PE, desire for PE as a career choice motive and political party membership significantly enhance both students and social workers PE activity on social media. The findings highlight factors that can strengthen
the teaching of PE within social work education.