Factors impacting on membership and participation in a selected electrical engineering voluntary professional association in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Voluntary professional associations (also known as professional bodies, professional organisations, or professional societies) have been in operation in the non-profit sector for many centuries. These types of organisations exist in the different fields and professions to support the growth and development of the industries they operate in. Even though taking up membership and participating in the activities of these professional associations is voluntary, professionals are always encouraged by their employers to affiliate with them for their personal development and added benefits such as: access to professional knowledge, career development and advancement resulting from courses and seminars attended, career networking with other peers in the region, certification opportunities, publication in journals, continuing education (continued professional development) that assist with professional registration, access to conferences and webinars and access to local chapter support, training and mentorship. This study examined various factors that influenced electrical engineers residing in the Western Cape (WC) [not] to take up membership with the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) and, where membership was taken, [not] to participate in the interventions offered by SAIEE in the WC. Although several studies have been conducted in other professional fields (education, accounting, and information technology and so forth) to determine why professionals either join or do not join and why they participate or do not participate in voluntary professional associations, there is however little literature on this phenomenon in the field of electrical engineering in South Africa. This study should contribute to narrow the gap in the body of knowledge. This study employed the mixed methods design approach. The study capitalised on the strengths of both the qualitative and quantitative methods to increase the scope and depth of the results. Online survey questionnaires and focus group interviews were administered to electrical engineers who are members as well as non-members of SAIEE in the WC. Open-ended questions were also included in the questionnaire in order to capture qualitative information. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities, access to events, courses, seminars/webinars and research publications were ranked amongst the major factors that motivated electrical engineers to join and participate in SAIEE. The cost of membership and the fact that the employers did not recognise SAIEE, ranked highest on the factors that demotivated electrical engineers to join SAIEE. In terms of the factors that were demotivating the electrical engineers from participation in SAIEE interventions; the location / venue where the events were held and the time the events were held ranked amongst the highest factors that demotivated the electrical engineers from participating. To increase membership and improve participation, the respondents agreed that SAIEE needed to find alternative funding options to lower the cost of membership. It was also suggested that SAIEE’s visibility should be improved, in terms of marketing and social presence, especially at academic institutions.