BU Today: Applications Up at BUSSW & Other “Socially Conscious” Career-Driven BU Graduate Programs
In BU Today, Kyle MacDonald, assistant dean for enrollment services at BUSSW, shares observations on a new trend permeating Boston University’s graduate programs.
Excerpted from “Applications Up for BU Graduate Programs Leading to Socially Conscious ‘Helper’ Careers” (BU Today) by Joel Brown:
In both application essays and conversations, we have seen an increase in references to elections, social policy, democracy, the US role in the global economy, Black Lives Matter, immigration, environmental policy, and more,” says Kyle R. MacDonald, SSW assistant dean for enrollment services.
This year, applicants to LAW frequently cite health disparities during the pandemic, racial justice, human rights, and immigrant rights as motivations in their essays, says Alissa Leonard, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid. Voter disenfranchisement and climate change are also mentioned. Some applicants are driven by seeing their own family members adversely impacted by the pandemic, immigration issues, or racial inequality, she says.
“Students are taking up the challenge of fairness for all,” Leonard says.
With that mindset, BU benefits from having innovative programs such as the Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program and the Entrepreneurship, IP & Cyberlaw Program at LAW, an ongoing focus on social aspects of public health at SPH, and the high-profile, multidisciplinary new Center for Antiracist Research.
Nearly all the administrators interviewed say COVID has had a two-pronged effect, spotlighting racial and economic disparities while leaving many Americans newly unemployed, seeking a new career, or changing plans due to conditions on the ground.
“Our recruitment team has heard from people who have been laid off, such as teachers, who now want to pursue social work,” says SSW’s MacDonald, “and some mention the job security of careers in social work compared to other fields.”
Read the full BU Today story here.