The need to improve social work students’ skills as future social policy actors: experiences and prospects in undergraduate training

The article focus on the university training practices of a group of undergraduate students of the Sapienza University of Rome. The article stands in the field of social work and social policies, focusing on the influence of social workers in the problem definition, agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation of social policy (Stasio & Solga 2017; Weiss & Gal, 2019; Klammer & Leiber 2020). The research, carried out between 2016 and 2020, was designed with the aim of analyzing the emerging social work practices for students at community level, based on advocacy, consciousness (Moreau,1990; Ward & Mullender, 1991; Bifulco 2020) and social innovation projects with social policy actors, both public and private (Fook, 1996, Dominelli, 1997, Ife, 1997 Healy & Mulholland, 1998; Ciarini & Neri 2019). The research was based on two steps: the first, a survey to more than 700 students on the experience of participation in volunteering and solidarity practices with vulnerable people. The survey also provided for an assessment of the influence that these experiences may have on the motivation to carry out the profession of social worker. The second step consisted of focus groups with students to assess involvement in three different experiences: project-based learning, project-based learning and internship (Butin, 2010; Jacoby, 2015; Furco, & Norvell 2019). All these different methodologies represent experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs, by allowing them to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility (Bringle & Hatcher,1999).