Our recent practitioner member survey revealed some basic differences between practitioners and members in academia.  But we also wanted to understand how the needs of practitioner members break down based on their discipline. In this post, we’ll take a deeper dive into the needs of engineering members: What motivates engineers to join and renew, and how can societies that serve the engineering community best meet the needs of their members?

Who are engineers as members?

In our survey, 88% of engineer respondents were male and 72% have worked in their profession for over 20 years. The largest group (24%) work in large private companies, but engineers are also more likely than practitioners in other fields to be self-employed.

Engineers report far less need for certification and training than other groups of professionals we surveyed (48% don’t need certification at all, and 67% report that training is optional). Engineers value society membership for other practical reasons, though, including industry updates and access to manuals, guidelines, and standards. The social benefits of society membership are less important to them.

Once a member, engineers tend to have a long-standing relationship with their society: 67% have been members for over 10 years. What keeps them renewing? 86% said that they renew to get access to the society journal, and 76% for access to industry news and information.

How do engineers interact with research?

According to our survey, open research practices like data sharing and transparent peer review are more important to engineers than open access (OA). This makes some sense considering that 68% report that they produce research, while only 48% access research on a regular basis. When they do, engineers most prefer to read journal articles but they also appreciate society webinars and podcasts far more than any other discipline, especially when the discussion focuses on research impact. When it comes to publishing their own research, 40% have published via journal articles and 32% via conference proceedings, while 24% have contributed to books.

If they published their research as an open access article, 62% of engineers say they would publish OA again, which is a lower likelihood compared to other disciplines. However, engineers aren’t against research accessibility in the larger sense: 68% want societies to find ways to make journal articles more accessible to the general public, and 60% support greater transparency and more sharing of underlying data.

This echoes the growing support we’re seeing among academic society members for learned societies to support open research. Among practitioner members, engineers seem to be leading the way with support for open research practices.

What does it all mean for your member engagement strategy?

Societies that serve the engineering sector enjoy a largely stable membership base, and their members are likely to be more satisfied than practitioner members in other sectors. However, with over 70% of members already senior in their career, engineering associations need to plan for the impacts of member retirement and generational change.

One way to do that is making sure that you understand and are serving the needs of early career members (ECMs). Our research shows that ECMs across all disciplines are far less satisfied with their society membership than their more established peers. ECMs are also less interested in belonging to a society as a means to access research.

Instead, early career practitioners look to associations in their field to help them collaborate with their academic colleagues, promote their research, and advance their careers. Practical help with resume or CV building and networking are two great ways that societies can engage members who are early in their careers and reinforce the value of membership. Working more closely with employers of entry-level engineering professionals—and with universities to engage interested students—may also help societies recruit more members earlier in their careers and begin building a long-term relationship.