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Job outlook for social work lecturers in the United States
Are social work lecturer jobs in demand?
Social work lecturer job and salary trends over time
Social work lecturer jobs over time
Social work lecturer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,131 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,251 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,256 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,162 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,145 | 0.00% |
Average social work lecturer salary over time
Social work lecturer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $51,709 | $24.86 | --0.7% |
| 2025 | $52,070 | $25.03 | +5.5% |
| 2024 | $49,346 | $23.72 | +6.1% |
| 2023 | $46,507 | $22.36 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | $46,261 | $22.24 | +1.0% |
Social work lecturer jobs by state
Most common states for social work lecturers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 98 | 14% |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 789 | 12% |
| 3 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 143 | 11% |
| 4 | Delaware | 961,939 | 84 | 9% |
| 5 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 74 | 9% |
| 6 | Vermont | 623,657 | 55 | 9% |
| 7 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 569 | 8% |
| 8 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 496 | 8% |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 105 | 8% |
| 10 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 79 | 8% |
| 11 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 419 | 7% |
| 12 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 127 | 7% |
| 13 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 120 | 7% |
| 14 | Alaska | 739,795 | 52 | 7% |
| 15 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 50 | 7% |
| 16 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 43 | 7% |
| 17 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,133 | 6% |
| 18 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 611 | 6% |
| 19 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 192 | 6% |
| 20 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 174 | 6% |
Most common cities for social work lecturers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose | 2 | 0% | $58,186 |
| 2 | Colorado Springs | 1 | 0% | $43,139 |
Social Work Lecturer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of social work lecturer experts
Northern Michigan University
Clemson University
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Washington University in St Louis
University of Minnesota Crookston
Chicago State University
University of Central Florida
University of Kansas
Indiana University Kokomo
Elmira College
What general advice would you give to a Social Work Lecturer?
Juan de la Puente Herrero: - As precarious as things are looking for people from my generation, the fields of Romance Languages and Linguistics have an advantage that has gotten me out of more than one financial distress: they are incredibly versatile. If you acquire the necessary skills for it (and don't skip the step of actually learning them, please), you can quickly pick up different 'side hustles' that require minimal infrastructure. However, the idea of turning them into your main source of income could quickly become flimsy and unstable. You don't want to be the person who relies solely on occasional students to tutor, translations to complete, or texts to proofread.
If you do want to maximize your salary potential in this field with a single source of income, you are going to have to deal with a tremendous amount of bureaucracy, technical requirements, and elitism. If your dream profession in this field involves teaching and being financially stable, you probably want to look into getting a PhD. In order to get there, you need to carefully study how willing you are to remain broke for a few years, even though there isn't a tenured job assured at the other end of the tunnel. On a brighter note, I have met lots of lecturers in higher education who enjoy a comfortable salary and a peaceful work life, but in order to get there, most of them had to suffer through multiple precarious contracts and on-and-off appointments, which are very stressful situations to be on, specially for non-citizens like me.
I hope that my answers don't discourage anyone from getting into this field. I just described the ugliest parts of working in it, but I would be more than happy to dedicate double the words to explaining the things that I enjoy about working with languages and Linguistics.
Bo Clements
Lecturer of American Sign LanguageClemson University
Department of Languages
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Social Work Lecturers?
Bo Clements: Pandemic during life after Graduation is very obviously tricky. Look at the unemployment rates. Millions of job positions are in a freeze. No jobs out there. A positive note that a student has a degree in American Sign Language with specialization in Interpretation Education & Training, Wireless Technology, or Development & Innovative of Social Media allows working from home to create thousands of online jobs - Teaching, Marketing, Engineering, Spectrum of Technology, and many more.
We cannot remove our masks, making it so difficult to communicate, as it's hard to read people's lips. That is the number 1 communication barrier for all of us. We cannot be close or touch each other in a public place, even at work, to communicate in person. That makes it so difficult to find jobs.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Social Work Lecturers in the next 3-5 years?
Allison Butler Ph.D.: Anything that allows for mobility and flexibility. Many of us are craving being back in our offices for the human connection, while we also see that the work can get done in a variety of different locations. I think a blend of human connection and digital flexibility will be a primary focus over the next few years.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Social Work Lecturers in the next 5 years?
Allison Butler Ph.D.: Assuming that we look at demand within the context of a struggling economy, I would say that there will be an increase in demand for graduates with a Communication degree in the next five years. Our students graduate with strong transferrable skills, including thinking on their feet, writing, speaking clearly, and thinking critically. They are up to speed on current events and are technologically savvy. That being said, I think there will be less of a demand for new hires across multiple fields because it will take some time to build back the economy, and it will be a difficult job market for all recent graduates.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Social Work Lecturers to find work opportunities?
Catherine Dunkin: Graduates who can combine healthy critical thinking and communication skills should find positions available nearly anywhere they would like to live and work. They will find growth areas in healthcare, management consulting, technology, and operations/supply chain.
Graduates have an opportunity to think carefully about and pursue rewarding careers in line with their personal goals, values, and geographical preferences. They may consider entrepreneurial start-ups, local nonprofits with compelling community missions, or larger management consulting firms and corporations offering global clients and projects exposure.
How do you envision technology impacting Social Work Lecturers in the next 5 years?
Catherine Dunkin: Technology will continue to transform the public relations professional's job over the next five years. Today's professional will continue managing with a dramatically reduced number of traditional media outlets and an ever-increasing array of social media platforms, all with 24/7 deadline requirements.
To grow as leaders and trusted advisors to business executives, public relations professionals must continue to understand how to use data and technology in developing strategies, messages, and plans to engage sophisticated stakeholders. Technology will help measure results and show the impact of public relations efforts, which will continue to be critical in showing value and implications for their organizations.
Dr. Margaretha Rudstrom
LecturerUniversity of Minnesota Crookston
Agriculture and Natural Resources Department
What Social Work Lecturer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Margaretha Rudstrom: I am taking this from the perspective of an agribusiness major.
If a student isn't able to land a position within their field of study, I would suggest they work on their people skills and stay up to date with what is happening in the markets, ag policy, and agriculture. Staying up to date means following the popular press in the areas you have a career interest in. That could mean following the news from places like Drovers, local and national producer associations, or congressional or senate ag committees. This will help keep you up to date on what's happening in the areas you have an interest in or are looking for a career.
I seem to be harping on the people skills piece. Get experience in working with customers, customer service, customer complaints. These experiences will help you develop critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and communication skills sought after by employers.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Social Work Lecturers to find work opportunities?
Alvin Daniels: Because of the World Wide Web, everywhere is a great place for an opportunity to find you. Many companies will have their workers working from home for a while, so if you have talent, you can be found and work from anywhere.
How do you envision technology impacting Social Work Lecturers in the next 5 years?
Dr. Kathleen Hohenleitner: We're also seeing an increase in writers of copy for the internet, for websites, for Search Engine Optimization, and social media marketing (which is more complex than merely creating a Facebook page). I think that will only grow. Two of our alums started their own successful internet company doing SEO and social media marketing, and I'm so proud of them for seeing the future and blazing that trail. Their success indicates that this bodes well for the future of internet writing.
Wallace Meyer
Lecturer and Entrepreneurship Program DirectorUniversity of Kansas
School of Business
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Social Work Lecturers?
Wallace Meyer: Yes, severalfold:
All reports od COVID will not be disappearing, so a COVID environment will impact graduates during at least the first 2-3 years post-graduation.
The virus has made immutable changes in our behavior, and it's highly unlikely that we'll return to pre-COVID lifestyles. From the mundane (no/fewer handshakes)to the economic (a majority of small businesses will have failed before allowed to reopen fully) to the demographic (population migrations from big cities to suburbs, exurbs, and even rural counties), to organizational (companies have discovered higher productivity rates of their employees working remotely than in the office) there will be significant and enduring shifts in our lifestyles.
How do you envision technology impacting Social Work Lecturers in the next 5 years?
Wallace Meyer: Remotely located teams will require increasingly sophisticated project management, connectivity, and product builder software. Government-sponsored or industry-initiated technological solutions to climate change will be demanded (power distribution and storage, alternative energy sources, ocean flooding, weather, and fire protection) and technologies to overcome our currently suboptimally effective remote learning will be needed to expand our base of educable students.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Social Work Lecturers?
Kelly Fisher: We're still going to be dealing with living during a pandemic and living post-pandemic for awhile. I imagine that it is no different for graduates in any program. For graduates in Criminal Justice programs, they may end up working in social work fields, in private security, in policing, in corrections, in community corrections, in the court system, etc.
I think the hiring processes will all remain pretty similar to most agencies. From what I've seen so far in my own community, the police recruitment, corrections recruitment, and many others have remained the same as pre-pandemic. In terms of job availability, on one side of the coin, I've seen the increase of businesses hiring private security to help with increased business in a given field, or even just increased security to help implement safety procedures now in place at individual companies as a means to protect employees and customers alike.
On the other side of the coin, I've seen where other smaller agencies and service providers have been unable to hire additional staff, or additionally have their current staff work at full capacity. As a direct result of the pandemic and the effects it played on the economy, nonprofit agencies that rely on funding sources are faced with very trying challenges to maintain their operations.
Most of this is cyclical and covered in the process of one's education in my program. This is a reality for students going into fields where they work directly for a nonprofit agency/department. I will also add that we are seeing increases in child abuse and other forms of domestic violence, which is a result of the conditions created by the pandemic. This is something that then impacts the local criminal justice system.
One arrest from domestic violence will impact police, local corrections, the court system, possibly a victim advocate, community support systems, potentially local child protection agencies, etc. The criminal justice system is a large interwoven group of professionals that all have very different roles, but that are all made necessary for potentially the same root cause.
What general advice would you give to a Social Work Lecturer?
Rebecca Sarver: Listen more than you talk. There is so much to be learned from clients, seasoned human service workers, and the community that you work within. By listening and observing versus always feeling compelled to speak, you will learn job skills, people skills, and your clients' needs.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Social Work Lecturers in the next 3-5 years?
Rebecca Sarver: The use of remote and virtual meetings will continue even after COVID-19. Face to face meetings may still be the preferred method of contact, but the reality is that many clients who need to access services do not have reliable and consistent transportation to get to the services. Phones and computers enable more convenient meetings that are less costly in terms of time and travel. Some clients may prefer not to leave their homes.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Social Work Lecturers?
Rebecca Sarver: Yes, coronavirus pushed many disciplines, including human services, into virtual service provision. Some clients and some staff may prefer to work remotely. I have read that some organizations found their employees to be more productive when working from home. Conducting some work from home and having virtual meetings with other service providers even while at the job site can be a real time saver and money saver for all parties involved.