Merlinda Weinberg

Merlinda Weinberg is a retired Adjunct Professor at Dalhousie University, following a tenured position as a full professor in the School of Social Work. Dr. Weinberg’s research explores ethics, particularly related to equity, diversity, and inclusion, with a current emphasis on antiracism and whiteness. One research study examined processes of inclusion and exclusion for “minority” professionals in law, social work, and academia. Another study, international in scope, focused on the ethical challenges for social workers of the COVID-19 pandemic. A third explored the paradoxes and constraints in Canadian social work practice, connecting the subjective experiences of practitioners with the impact of socio-political aspects such as restructuring and neoliberalism. In all these studies, she investigated how professionals, in their understanding and implementation of ethics, fostered and/or resisted inequities for themselves and those they served. Prior to obtaining her PhD in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education / University of Toronto, Dr. Weinberg had a 25-year career as a practitioner including front-line work, administration, private practice, and management consultation. Her book is Paradoxes in Social Work Practice: Mitigating Ethical Trespass. She was nominated by SSHRC as the top new researcher in Canada and won a senior fellowship to Durham University, England.

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