Mapping the provision of professional doctorate programmes in social work: a survey of UK universities

The paper presents the findings of a survey of UK professional doctorate programmes which have a social work element. The survey was conducted via academic community email lists and followed up with telephone interviews. Findings are presented about the universities offering programmes, longevity of programmes, numbers of students, students’ employment and employer support, degree nomenclature, programme structure, successful aspects of programmes and their approach to handing the relationship between research and practice. Some tentative conclusions are presented about the possible ways forward for social work professional doctorates and avenues for further research about these degrees