Social and Academic Profile of Social Work Students at the National University of Asuncion, Paraguay (2014 al 2018) and the Social Imaginary of the Incoming New Students as regards the Social Work Academic Program

Abstract

This research intends to identify both the social and academic profile of the women and men students of the major in Social Work program at the Institute of Social Work, National University of Asuncion (UNA), during the years 2014 to 2018, and the social imaginary that the incoming new students have about professional training, given that when they enter the program they already possess a cluster of knowledge and ideas related to the profession. The method used is that of an exploratory study, with a quantitative focus; the gathering of empirical information was carried out by means of primary and secondary sources, and the data were processed with the statistical software R Project for Statistical Computing. The main results have been to characterize the students that have been admitted to the major in Social Work program during the last five years, the majority of whom are women workers, whose idea in relation to the profession is tied to the “illusion of serving” others. Regarding the conclusion, the study permitted the characterization of the student population enrolled in the Social Work major at the UNA and has led to the understanding that the imaginary or representation that the students have about the major is linked to the idea of “helping” others.