Selecting for professional education and training in human services: part 1 – processes and issues

Abstract

How to select suitable entrants for programmes emphasizing interpersonal and counselling skills is a question faced by many tertiary training institutions. Discusses special selection procedures used by the School of Social Science at the Queensland University of Technology, over a four‐year period, to identify suitable students for its undergraduate degree programme, the Bachelor of Social Science (Human Services) degree. The process differs for school‐leavers and non‐school‐leavers or mature entrants. For school‐leavers, expressed preference and academic merit are used as the basis for selection. For non‐school‐leavers, expressed preference, questionnaires, group processes and interviews are used. Discusses issues concerning the use of the different school‐leaver versus non‐school‐leaver procedures, including questions of discrimination, problems in administering the programmes and perceptions of the successes and failures in the processes to date.

Citation

Hicks, R.E. and Guy, G. (1995), "Selecting for professional education and training in human services: part 1 – processes and issues", Education + Training, Vol. 37 No. 8, pp. 9-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400919510096916