The Doctorate in Social Work addresses three lines of research

Critical Approaches in Social Work, Redistribution and Recognition Processes, and Gaps between Public Policy and Society. These three lines of research are based on the trajectory of the five Research Clusters I+D+i developed over the ten years since the reestablishment of the discipline of Social Work at the University of Chile.

• Subjects in Social Work training: This line of study is developed in two compulsory subjects, Debates and Proposals in Social Work I and II, taken in the first two semesters of the program. Each subject is equivalent to 10 SCT.
• Methodological training subjects: It includes three compulsory subjects, Social Data Management, Social Data Production and Analysis, and Decision Making in Complex Problems, taken in the first three semesters of the program. Each subject is equivalent to 10 SCT.
• Doctoral Research Courses: The doctoral thesis is carried out under the auspices of an R&D&I Center. The Center's courses are equivalent to 10 SCT in the first and second semesters, respectively, and the final product is the design of the doctoral thesis project. This project is submitted for a Qualification Examination at the end of the second semester. In the third and fourth semesters, 20 SCT are devoted to doctoral research, and from the fifth to the eighth semester, 30 SCT are devoted to completing the thesis and taking the Degree Examination at the end of the eighth semester.
• Elective courses: They are scheduled to be taken in the fourth semester of the program, with a workload of 5 credits each.

Research Areas

Research Area

Processes of Redistribution and Recognition

Within the disciplinary tradition of Social Work, there has historically been a focus on the mechanisms governing the distribution of economic resources, hence the longstanding connection between poverty, inequality, and Social Work. However, the Doctoral Program establishes a connection between Redistribution and Recognition—that is, between the economic and cultural spheres—drawing on contemporary debates in critical theory. This gives rise to a field of tensions and contradictions that enables a renewed disciplinary perspective, not only by problematizing the mechanisms through which wealth and poverty are distributed and redistributed, but also by articulating them with forms of discrimination and moral injury that emerge within the symbolic and cultural spheres. This conceptual intersection makes it possible to examine the interplay between mechanisms of structural inequality and forms of oppression based on class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, religion, among other hierarchies, which are expressed in situated and context-specific ways across particular territories.

Research Area

Gaps between Public Policy and Society

The growing complexity and uncertainty of the current context require social policies capable of responding more effectively to diverse and changing needs, moving beyond minimum standards of quality in the provision of public services. Evidence reveals a gap between the provision of social programs and the actual needs of highly vulnerable groups, reflected in insufficient outcomes in areas such as poverty, childhood, pensions, employment, and old age. These challenges constitute complex problems characterized by multiple actors, competing interests, and necessarily partial solutions, requiring comprehensive approaches and a critical examination of the functioning of intervention systems themselves. Within this context, social innovation based on collaborative processes, transdisciplinary research, and new approaches to the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies emerges as a key strategy for strengthening the impact and transformative capacity of public action.

Research Area

Critical Approaches in Social Work

The production of knowledge in Social Work requires developing the capacity to problematize reality and formulate theoretical approaches that enhance the understanding of and intervention in complex social issues arising both from dynamics of inequality and discrimination and from gaps in public policy. Critical approaches in Social Work have broadened the discipline’s conceptual perspectives, promoting new ways of analyzing social dynamics and of integrating research and intervention as complementary processes. Theorization is understood as a dynamic process, open to transdisciplinary debate and ongoing critical reflection, aimed at generating critical contributions to contemporary social challenges. Within this framework, the Doctoral Program in Social Work seeks to engage in the work of critique, which questions and expands understandings of reality; the reconstruction of critique, which examines the historical and political roots of inequality; and the development of critical proposals, which advances theoretical and practical approaches to foster innovation and strengthen the disciplinary development of Social Work, while also contributing to the social agenda through public engagement and advocacy promoted by its R&D+i Units.

Graduate Profile:

Upon completion of the Doctorate, graduates will be able to:

1. Delve into contemporary approaches to social work in order to promote critical proposals within the discipline.
2. Addressing relevant social gaps and processes, proposing new policy and program alternatives based on a commitment to local realities.
3. Develop highly integrated research (R&D&I) based on ethical principles.
4. Perform innovatively in academic and professional settings, integrating teams with a transdisciplinary perspective.
5. Communicate your contributions to knowledge in different formats and to different audiences.

Admission requirements:

Those who hold a bachelor's degree in social work, social sciences, or related fields may apply to the Doctorate in Social Work program. Those who hold a master's degree in social work, social sciences, or related disciplines (sociology, anthropology, psychology, communication, engineering, geography, economics, among others) may also apply.

Background for the Application:

1. Updated resume.
2. Simple copy of bachelor's degree certificate for a degree program lasting at least 8 semesters, and simple copy of master's degree for those who have one. Foreign applicants must submit this documentation legalized before a notary public. If your country is a member of the Hague Convention, this document must be submitted to the authorized authorities of the respective country and the corresponding apostille must be requested.
3. Simple copy of identity card or passport.
4. Concentration of undergraduate and graduate notes.
5. Letter of motivation for pursuing a PhD.
6. Preliminary research project, consistent with one of the Program's lines of research and its R&D&I Centers.
7. Two letters of recommendation.
8. Certification of English language proficiency, attaching test results or completing the language proficiency statement.
9. Interview with the program's Academic Committee.

Admission process weightings:

1. Curriculum background (35%)
2. Letters of recommendation (5%)
3. Career path, project, and connection to the program's lines of research (40%)
4. Interview with the Academic Committee (20%)

Faculty of the Doctoral Program:

• Carlos Andrade, PhD in Social Work, Boston College, United States - Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile.
• Gabriela Azócar de la Cruz, PhD in Sociology, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile.
• Claudia Campillo, PhD in Social Sciences, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico.
• Caterine Galaz Valderrama, PhD in Education Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
• Hillary Hiner, PhD in History, University of Chile, Chile.
• Teresa Matus Sepúlveda, PhD in Social Work, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PhD in Sociology, IUPERJ Candido Mendes University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Gianinna Muñoz Arce, PhD in Social Work, University of Bristol, England.
• Lorena Pérez, PhD in Applied Human Sciences, University of Montreal, Canada.
• Taly Reininger, PhD in Social Work, Fordham University, United States.
• Gabriela Rubilar Donoso, PhD in Research Methodology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. PhD in Human and Social Sciences, Pontifical University of Comillas, Spain.
• Lelya Troncoso Pérez, PhD in Psychology, University of Chile, Chile.
• Antonieta Urquieta Álvarez, PhD in Social Work, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico.
• Anahí Urquiza Gómez, PhD in Sociology (mention in Geography) / Environment and Society, University of Munich / Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Germany.
• Paula Vidal Molina, PhD in Social Work, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.