Social Work Faculty Support for Same-Sex Marriage: A Cross-national Study of U.S. and Anglophone Canadian MSW Teaching Faculty

Attention to same-sex marriage has increased in the past decade. This study examines the perceptions of same-sex marriage among social work faculty. Faculty play a critical role in preparing future social workers for competent, ethical practice-including advocacy for social policies inclusive of sexual minorities. The present study investigates endorsement of same-sex marriage among teaching faculty in U.S. and English-speaking Canadian MSW programs. Twelve factors were found to be significant in the bivariate analyses; however, only four retained significance in the multivariate analysis. Specifically, the multivariate analysis found "other race" and religiosity to be negatively associated with support for same-sex marriage, whereas acceptance of same-sex relationships and understanding gender-based oppression as the root cause of domestic and sexual violence were positively associated with same-sex marriage support. The results highlight the importance of social attitudes concerning same-sex relationships and gender-based oppression for endorsement of same-sex marriage. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.