There’s little doubt that, as we slowly start to emerge from the pandemic, its effects are still being felt - particularly when it comes to the impact on researchers’ careers. Respondents to the latest society member survey told us they missed career development opportunities, had restricted lab access, and had struggled to balance the needs of their personal life with those of their career. So, this seemed like the right time to look in more detail at what society members told us about the career support their society gives them. The results may surprise you.

Support for careers is central to society membership

Despite relatively low usage of the society’s career service (it is on the increase though - up from 7% in 2021 to 12% this year), career support is crucial to society membership. Poor quality services can drive members away. 12% of those who left a society in the last 12 months did so because of a lack of support for career advancement. A further 10% left because of a lack of support for educational improvement. Provide excellent career support, however, and they will want to join. 76% of non-members said they would join a society that provided greater support for career advancement (up 6% on last year), and 76% said they would join for helpful career development resources (an increase of 5% on 2021). 

Not only that, but while it wasn’t the leading reason for renewing membership (the major reason was to feel connected to a community), over 1 in 4 members renewed to access their society’s career development tools and resources. And another 1 in 4 re-joined because of the society’s reputation for supporting career development.

Members see career support as a vital service to offer (even if they don’t use it), with over two-thirds saying that it was important that the society provide the service. What’s more, providing a substandard service drastically affects satisfaction levels and recommendation scores. More than any other service a society can offer, in fact.

Focus on Early Career Researchers

As you might anticipate, there are significant differences in the career support experiences and expectations for students and ECRs and for those who are a little further along in their careers. Whilst societies can’t afford to ignore the career needs of more experienced researchers, this group tends to focus more on other membership benefits (access to content, being part of the wider community) and may get their career support needs met by simply being part of a large network. Less experienced members, on the other hand, need advice, training, support for certification, and guidance along the career pathway, as well as access to a wider network.

Not only that but over half of respondents told us they thought that career-related support was the best way of attracting ECRs to join. 55% said that helping new members to understand career opportunities and development would encourage ECRs, whilst 54% advocated supporting access to educational materials and 51% suggested support for achieving certification (such as study materials and support groups).

Regional differences in career support

Length of experience is not the only variation, of course. There are marked regional differences in terms of career support. Broadly speaking it is more important to those in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and less important to the countries of Europe and the USA. For example, our survey told us that offering a career support service mattered most to those in Africa (who scored it 4.27 out of 5) and Central Asia (4.06) and least to those in Europe (3.57) and the USA (3.78). Although their scores were lower, they did still regard it as an important service. In reality, career support is unlikely to be less important in Europe and the USA, but it may be that other career support services are more evolved and readily available in these areas than in less developed regions, which are more reliant on their society to provide the service they need.

When it comes to renewing their membership, career support is a bigger motivation in Africa and the Middle East too. Those in Africa saw the society’s career development reputation (40%) and access to tools and resources (35%) as more important than average (26% and 28% respectively), as did those in the Middle East (43% and 38% respectively). However, in Europe and the USA, it was much less of a driver.

Opportunity calls for better career support

If society support for careers is a golden opportunity, then it is one that many societies are currently missing. Across the survey as a whole, just over half are satisfied with the career support they are receiving from their society. The scores they are giving may be positive, but only just. However,  society support for promoting members’ careers still receives poor scores from respondents, despite a slight increase in satisfaction levels over last year. This stands at 48% (up 4% from last year) with respondents giving it a satisfaction rating of 3.44 out of 5 (anything below 3.50 should be regarded as negative). So, there is certainly scope for societies to do more.   

When it comes to career development, 55% are satisfied with the options available, such as Continuing Medical Education courses and 52% are satisfied with support for certification and credentialing needs. Although the difference is marginal, ECRs and those with under 2 years membership are slightly happier with the support for promoting their careers. 

The big takeaway for societies, then, is: don’t miss this opportunity. Excellent career support makes for satisfied members. Not only that, but it encourages non-members, students, and ECRs to join and current members to renew. So, what are you waiting for?