Social Work (B.A.)
What makes this degree programme special?
- Wide range of specialisation options: choice between several areas of focus such as culture & media, refugees & migration, clinical social work, etc.
- Project-based study: theory, areas of personal interest and practical experience are combined in project work
- Holistic basic knowledge: teaching of sociology, psychology, law, education science, etc. in the first semesters
What is the structure of the programme?
The first three semesters of the degree programme serve to intensively deal with the subject-specific and related scientific basics.
Subjects such as sociology, social work theory, methods, psychology, law, educational science or public health with a focus on psychiatry and addiction are included. The aim is to get to know the theories of social work science and to be able to apply methods competently. As a social work student, you should be able to competently establish networks between the different basic disciplines in order to be able to act professionally in your later professional life.
High level of practice
The high degree of practice is a special feature of the Social Work programme at the University of Applied Sciences Jena. This means that you will become familiar with the requirements of the various fields of work at an early stage. Already in the first semesters you will complete an orientation internship of seven weeks. This generally makes it easier for you to specialise in a subject area during the course of your studies. You will go into practice during the entire fourth semester and deepen the theory later in the module "Practice Project". There you design a project under academic supervision and implement it practically in a field of social work. During the practical semester and the practical project (4th - 6th semester), your competence development between theory and practice is also supported by supervision.
Study focus
You also have the option of choosing a specialisation, which can be recorded on your transcript if required. Currently offered specialisations are:
- Culture, media and education
- Flight, asylum and migration
- Gender and diversity (e.g. ageing)
- Youth and family
- Clinical social work
- Delinquency, social control, resocialisation
- Rehabilitation and participation
Module overview
What are the entry requirements?
- General higher education entrance qualification, subject-specific higher education entrance qualification or technical college entrance qualification
- Did you complete your school or university education abroad? Please note the admission requirements for studying in Germany
- You don't have a higher education entrance qualification but you have work experience? Find out about studying without High School Diploma.
What career prospects do I have after completing my studies?
The social work degree qualifies you for a very complex and highly specialised field of occupational profiles, target groups and fields of practice.
As a social worker in the Federal Republic of Germany, you are primarily employed by public and independent institutions. Public agencies are institutions that work under the responsibility of the state - the municipalities, the Länder or the federal government: primarily youth welfare offices, social welfare offices and health offices, but also employment offices, judicial institutions or schools. Independent organisations are private and mostly non-profit organisations. The most important and largest employers are the welfare associations: e.g. Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO), Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband (DPWV), Caritas, Diakonisches Werk or the German Red Cross. However, independent organisations also include youth associations or smaller and local associations and initiatives.
With a successfully completed degree in social work and the state recognition obtained in the process, a wide range of fields of activity are open to you. These include, for example, child and youth welfare, adult education or work with mentally disabled people. Social workers can work both operationally and conceptually. Possible institutions and companies you can join are, for example:
- Public institutions and offices
- Further education institutions
- Social associations
- Medical institutions
- Psychiatric institutions
- Schools
Increasingly, you will also be employed by companies in the private sector. Here, for example, you will work in the field of personnel development and organisational counselling. You can also become self-employed in areas such as psychosocial counselling, personal coaching or mediation. Your typical fields of work include:
- Child and youth welfare, help with upbringing
- Social services (for example, in clinical and rehabilitative areas)
- Social planning, social management
- Offender assistance
- Women's promotion, women's education, women's counselling
- Help for the elderly
- Social work with foreigners, refugees
- Help for the disabled
- Addiction counselling
- Vocational preparation or support for integration into the labour market
Who should I contact if I have any questions?
What other degree programmes might also interest me?
