Next generation social work research education: fostering transdisciplinary readiness

Globally, scholars across disciplines are seeing increasing pressures to develop the capacity for multi-level, boundary-spanning research focused on complex social, health, and environmental problems. Although social work is inherently an integrative discipline, the profession faces challenges and gaps in effectively and thoughtfully responding to these demands. This paper focuses on transdisciplinarity, arguing that it is a core dimension of research training aimed at better achieving readiness to engage these changing landscapes. We describe some of the major changes in contemporary research, define concepts related to transdisciplinarity, illustrate developments in pedagogical thinking, particularly at the doctoral level, and encourage reflective, cross-pollinating conversations between US, European, and other international partners regarding what can be gained from both our areas of commonality and our differences.