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Research & Continuing Education

The School of Social Work hosts a broad range of research activities, from large-scale grant-supported projects to smaller faculty-directed and student-directed studies. Most (but not all) grant-supported projects are managed within one of the affiliated research units.

Research at the School of Social Work

The School of Social Work has a robust research engine that comprises 20% of the overall external research dollars at Portland State University. Learn more by visiting one of the centers or projects highlighted on the left like the Regional Research Institute for Human Services, The Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services or Center for Interdisciplinary Mentoring Research.

Continuing Education

The mission of the School of Social Work Continuing Education (SSWCE) program is to meet the ongoing needs of the social work and other helping professions for high-quality, community-informed learning experiences that:

  • Promote social justice, equity, and social change
  • Foster learning communities
  • Engage in collaborative community relationships
  • Support culturally and linguistically responsive service systems

Learn more about SSWCE >>

Additional Highlights

Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring

The Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring offers a truly distinctive educational opportunity for experienced mentoring professionals which includes a week-long seminar presenting the latest developments in theory and research on youth mentoring, sessions led by prominent, nationally recognized research fellows, ample time for participants to think critically and creatively about their own program issues and explore opportunities for innovation - and a sustained dialogue between experienced professionals and researchers. See also: The Center for Interdisciplinary Mentoring Research (CIMR) which fosters collaboration among faculty from Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Business Administration, and Engineering and Computer Science to charting new directions for research and practice across multiple domains of  mentoring, including youth development, higher education, and workplace mentoring.