Graduate Research Through the Rebirth of Social Work Education in Ethiopia

The research activities of graduate students of social work at Addis Ababa University (AAU) have not been documented and analyzed in a way that it could be published. This article explores and examines social work graduate research from 2006 to 2019. Data and our unit of analysis included 580 theses and dissertations listed in graduation books and another 280 electronically stored master’s theses and dissertations from the AAU Institutional Repository. The total graduates in the program (2006-2019) were 752, of which 65% (484) were males. Further analysis was made based on review of 280 sample master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. The study site for 73% of these theses and dissertations was in Addis Ababa. The rural-urban comparative analysis indicates that 84% of research projects were carried out in urban areas. In terms of the methodological orientations, 81% employed qualitative methods. From the fifteen thematic categories identified in our study, the five most researched thematic areas which covered 67% of all master’s thesis and PhD research projects include issues of children; women and gender; health and healthcare services; community and community development, and family, marriage, and divorce. This article concludes that the rebirth of social work education at AAU in 2004 paved the way for the expansion of graduate social work research. The urban bias of the research demonstrates a limitation of social work graduate research.