Abstract
Should American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) membership be required? What do stakeholders think? This poster presents insights gained from a study exploring student and faculty perceptions and experiences regarding required AOTA membership during students’ formal education.
Primary Author and Speaker: Karen Brady
Additional Authors and Speakers: Erin Grell, Erin Horan, Sophia Khoury, Trinity Manning, Caroline McCaffery, Delia Pellettiere, Emily Santen, Sydney Ostroff
Contributing Authors: Lisa Burns
For associations, student membership provides an opportunity to support emerging professionals in the earliest stage of their career. According to Holm et al. (2020), student membership is crucial for the future of AOTA and continuing to develop the profession. However, if students are unhappy with required membership, they are less likely to renew their membership or to participate in the association’s activities post-graduation. Sustained and engaged membership is important for many reasons, including providing a source of revenue. Membership dues help to fund activities, such as providing educational programs, lobbying on behalf of members, and publishing industry publications (AOTA, 2023). This poster shares research results of educators’ and students’ experiences and perceptions on the nature, value, effectiveness, and challenges of required AOTA membership. Data were collected through six focused group interviews with 29 OT students & 11 OT faculty. Thematic analysis revealed three main student/faculty themes: The Perceived Benefits of AOTA membership, The Perceived Challenges of AOTA Membership, and Suggestions for Improving AOTA Membership. Participants perceived several benefits to membership including access to resources, opportunities for professional development, a sense of professional identity, and advocacy for the profession. However, participants also identified a few challenges to membership including the cost of membership, and the perceived usability of the website to access resources. Suggestions for improving and sustaining membership post-graduation included increasing students’ awareness of the scope of resources available, making greater use of resources in the classroom, and exploring non-academic AOTA resources. The findings suggest that OT students and faculty have a mixed perception of required AOTA membership. Future research to address these concerns may result in a greater number of students maintaining AOTA membership post-graduation.
Holm, S. E., Stutz-Tanenbaum, P., & Greene, D. (2020). What drives engagement in professional associations? A national survey of occupational therapy students. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 4(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2020.040301
American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA]. (2023). About AOTA. https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA.aspx