Through six years of Wiley Society Member Survey insights, we’ve come to learn a lot about what members want and need from their societies, and what societies can do to help keep their members happy.  What concerns do academics, researchers, and professionals share, and what needs make them unique? We’ve found that three things remain consistent: members find the most value in society membership for access to valuable content, finding a sense of community, and ongoing career support. In this post, we’ll unpack exactly what “career support” means to help societies offer the right value to your members.

How important is career support?

Of all the ways that members engage with their society after joining, using career support is less common than reading the society’s publications (69%) or attending educational programs (38%), but it’s still important. 21% typically attend career networking events and 10% utilize the society’s career service option. While engagement with career services is low compared to some other society offerings, it’s a huge driver for membership: 71% of non-members said they would join a society that supported their career! That’s a big number, but it’s actually a 6% drop over last year. Emphasizing the career benefits in member communications could be crucial to keeping current members and recruiting new members.

There are also opportunities for societies to grow their support around careers and education. Based on our data, most members are not happy with their society’s career services, and less than half of members are satisfied with the support they receive for advancing their career. And that’s been consistent over several surveys and on a global scale. But it’s not all bad news. 24% of members said they actually joined several additional societies in order to access more career opportunities. What’s more, even small improvements to society careers services could result in big benefits.

Education vs. career support

How members engage with a society’s career offerings is different from region to region, but across the board, greater support for educational advancement is the second biggest reason to join a society. However, in the US, support for career advancement comes lower down the list. This isn’t the same everywhere. In regions currently experiencing the greatest membership growth, such as Africa and Central Asia, our survey suggests that support for careers is the top reason for joining followed by support for educational advancement. Despite this, interest in the careers service offering is generally low, with the Middle East (6%) and the Asia Pacific (APAC) (9%) regions being the least engaged. It is worth noting that society member satisfaction levels are lowest in APAC of all the regions, so focusing on improved careers service could potentially improve both engagement and satisfaction rates.

Education, education, education

One thing the survey makes clear is that in some regions – primarily the US and Europe– it’s educational support that matters most. This probably reflects the relatively established status of researchers in these regions, where career advancement is less of a priority than keeping up to speed with the latest advances in their disciplines. Part of the reason we may see a lot more membership growth coming from places like Africa and Central Asia could be because there is demand for greater support for both career and educational advancement.

The mix of career and educational support that’s right for you won’t be right for another organization. So, where should you start? Try surveying your own members to see what’s working well, and where they’d like more resources. Asking members what they think not only gives great insight into where to invest, it also turns more members into advocates for the society! The good news is that societies have the power to improve their services around career and education support. What are you doing that’s worked well with your members in these areas?

If you’re interested in learning more about the society career services available through Wiley, email David Kim (dkim2@wiley.com).