Summary:

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the profession identity of newly educated social workers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) through the research question “How is newly educated social workers profession identity challenged in NAV?”. I will look closely into how newly educated social workers experience the tension between theory and practice. Further, I will ask question about the extent to which social workers weighs the demand of efficiency versus client’s needs. The thesis has a phenomenological approach and is based on six qualitative interviews with newly educated social workers. All the informants have a bachelor’s degree in social work and works as supervisors in NAV. At the time of the interview, no one had worked in NAV for more than five years. The six informants work at four different NAV-offices in Rogaland, three big offices and one small. Even though the social workers have the same fundament, they experience the work as supervisor in NAV very differently.