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I’m reading through the SAA 2020 Member Needs Assessment survey as I prepare for a class lecture. I probably won’t parse this info with my intro students, but a few points in the Executive Summary stood out to me and I thought I'd share. 1/18
If you haven’t gone through this yet: https://ecommerce.saa.org/SAA/SAAdocs/Survey2020/ExecutiveSummary.pdf (all numbers are taken directly from the report and due to their rounding may not equal 100%) 2/18
Only 839 members (11.6% of membership) responded. This is about half the response rate of recent info requests, such as elections or bylaw referendum. It is also abysmal compared to the 32.8% response rate for the last needs assessment in 2015. 3/18
This low turnout is attributed to a short time for response and exhaustion after recent elections, etc. No consideration is given to the fact that people are maybe just over the organization. 4/18
Responses were mainly from the US (89.1%), white (83.5%), heterosexual (84%), PhD holders (63%), & in academia (50%) either as faculty or students. I don't know how representative this is, but my sense is that it’s a decent match. (if you have that data please let me know!) 5/18
70% of respondents were overall satisfied with the org, while 18% were dissatisfied (up from 3.7% in 2015). The most dissatisfaction is among students (4% extremely dissatisfied), ages 18-34 (5%), and ages 35-54 (4%). 6/18
38% of respondents felt the org is NOT effectively serving all constituencies (only 23% think they’re serving their members). This sentiment was highest among women (44%), members aged 18-34 (51%), and members aged 35-54 (44%). 7/18
What constituencies do members think the SAA is neglecting? People of color (33%), women (28%), and tribal/indigenous people (26%). 8/18
39% report being marginalized in the discipline based on their identity. This includes 61% of those dissatisfied with the org and 60% of women. Gender (77%) is cited as the most frequent contributing factor of marginalization. 9/18
Fieldwork (73%) continues to be a prime place of marginalization, but work (61%), classroom (44%) and Annual Meeting (31%) settings aren’t great either. 10/18
(There is a note that the Intersectionality Task Force is working with the data in the last two tweets and will produce a separate report.) 11/18
Of those who have considered canceling membership, 26% point to cost while 23% say #SAA2019 and another 20% point to overall poor leadership. Students in particular say they’re considering canceling because of Albuquerque (39%) or because of poor leadership (34%). 12/18
Many members say they have never visited the SAA Twitter account (64%) or Facebook page (91%). There is an overall preference for email communication (63%), but the highest preference for social media came from those dissatisfied with the SAA (16%). 13/18
The lack of social media engagement/preference may give the org cover to continue to neglect and denigrate social media participation or paint them (us) as rabble-rousers. 14/18
Views on the org’s mission depended on age. Members <45 want a mission centered on improving practice & emphasizing ethics (65%). Those >65 want a focus on creating & sharing knowledge about the past (55%). In between are concerned about networking/personal connections. 15/18
Over and over again the survey results show an extremely dissatisfied student and younger member (18-34 years) body. 16/18
“Older members consistently show higher approval for SAA and a greater appreciation for the status quo, while younger members tend to be less satisfied with the current state of the organization and its efforts to serve the community.” 17/18
If I was on the board of directors, I would be paying close attention to the student and 18-34 responses if they are at all concerned with the longevity of the organization. 18/18
