Hello members, and happy ASB membership renewal season! I’ll start with a few updates from the Membership committee, where we focused our 2022 efforts on learning about what our members wanted from the Society. For example, after conversations with retired ASB members, we created a Retiree membership category for 2023. (Note, this is different from “Emeritus status”, which is an honorary membership designated by the Executive Board). We also sent an “Exit Survey” in July to former members who were not planning to renew their memberships in 2022. Of the 27 responses, 44% stated they would reconsider renewing with popular suggestions including offering more professional services (including training courses) and additional content for those not performing academic research.
The Membership committee also received some sentiments from members that the only reason to join ASB is for discounted annual meeting rates. While the annual meeting is certainly ASB’s flagship event, we want to remind members of the other opportunities to engage with ASB year-round, including:
- Professional development resources and awards on our website, plus a members-only directory where you can find future collaborators by research topic and/or region.
- Meet other members at regional meetings, student chapter events, or through an ASB affinity group, like ASB Postdocs or ASB Early Career Faculty Group.
- Volunteer on an ASB committee! Volunteering not only serves the Society but can advance your own career. Fill out the 2023 ASB Volunteer Interests form once you renew your membership.
Following up on the last newsletter, the Membership committee is continuing to explore options for reconsidering the ASB Disciplinary categories given their historical and continued unequal distribution (see pie chart below). Please help us improve Society programming by filling out the Disciplinary Category questionnaire when you renew your membership!
I will close with an update on our 2022 membership stats and demographics in the figures below. Of note, the percentage distributions in each category are relatively consistent across membership levels. A notable exception is that the percentage of women is highest for students (52%), then early career (45%), and then regular (32%) members.
Finally, I was able to take some time to quantify our progress in recruitment and retention over the last few years to help the Society focus future efforts in these areas. From 2021 to 2022, we retained 671 of our 916 members* (444 regular, 203 students, 21 students who switched to regular members, and 3 who did the reverse). While 245 members from 2021 did not renew in 2022 (117 regular, 128 students), we also had 147 former members rejoin ASB after a gap membership (111 regular, 36 students). An additional 134 new members (40 regular, 94 student) joined last year, so ultimately, we saw a net 4% increase in membership in 2022 (952 members*). These trends are similar between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. In the new year, the Membership Committee will continue working to address issues leading to member loss, while improving member engagement and recruiting new members. As always, we welcome any and all feedback from the ASB membership on how to improve your member experience!
*Emeritus members not included.
2022 membership demographics (n = 968):
