Confronting Islamophobia through Social Work Education: A Cohort Study

As part of an ongoing curriculum assessment project, faculty associated with the Bachelor's level social work program of the University of Houston-Downtown identified a significant gap in the enrollment of Muslim students as compared to the community at large. In addressing concerns related both to implicit and explicit curricula, the social work faculty developed several action items to address this gap, including the creation of a project to assess student knowledge regarding issues affecting the Muslim community. As part of this effort, a classroom-based intervention was developed, specifically addressing issues of Islamophobia. The intervention was administered to both BSW and MSW students at affiliated universities in the same city. Using a one group, quasi-experimental design, 88 students (70 BSW students and 18 MSW students) participated in a 60-minute classroom intervention session with pre- and post-test surveys administered to assess student knowledge and attitude change. Findings suggest a significant increase in knowledge and a positive change in certain attitudes post-intervention. Implications include the addition of a teaching component on Islamophobia to support the social justice-specific competency, and activities to address larger campus-wide climate issues to support a culturally appropriate and inclusive welcoming environment for Muslim students.