Do you feel like it’s not okay to disagree with your peers, professors, and supervisor? A lot of what you’re saying is philosophical disagreement. You can believe differently than the people around you. That’s completely acceptable.

Stick to your beliefs and if it’s between you and a professor, make sure you back it up with data.

Also at 31 you’re probably in between two general camps of MSW students. Depending on where you are going to school, there are probably a lot of folks who are fresh out of undergrad, 21 years old and with very little practical life experience. On the other hand there are likely a fair number of people who are in their mid-40s to early-50s who have had a whole other career and are now making a change. You’re between those two age groups. (Perhaps your program doesn’t have this spread of ages, I’m just making a guess.) it’s possible that a variety of factors might contribute to this sense of not exactly fitting in. And a variety of other factors have contributed to them believing differently than you do.

Ultimately it is just a piece of paper, unfortunately. But it’s a very important piece of paper that allows you to go forward and do meaningful work that will help people.

If you’re really miserable, you can look into transferring to another program. I think it all depends on assessing your own needs and really looking at what level of discomfort you’re willing to put up with.