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...materials. provide opportunities for continuing education and professional development, such as conferences and workshops, and offer prospects for networking among members. Professional organizations advocate for members on issues such as licensure and funding (Pope, 2004), and they "influence public policy and inform the public within their areas of expertise" (Cruess & Cruess, 1997, p. 1675). Professional organizations may also assume responsibility for the development and dissemination of a professional code of ethics. In the case of counseling, and specialties under the counseling umbrella, professional organizations at local, state, and national levels perform these functions for the membership.
Regarding membership in professional associations, VanZandt (1990) observed, "It is difficult to see how a counselor can 'grow' with the profession without belonging to professional organizations and taking advantage of their resources and services" (p. 244). This sentiment was echoed by Spruill and Benshoff (1996), who noted, "Evidence of professionalism includes active participation and leadership in professional organizations" (p. 468). Members of professional organizations have opportunities to contribute to their organizations in various ways. Some seek leadership positions in the organizations, whereas others influence the leadership of organizations through the power of their votes. Organizations also have various committees, boards, councils, state organizations, and special interest groups in which members may choose to participate (Dodgen, Fowler, & Williams-Nickelson, 2003).
* Membership Rates
Membership in professional organizations in the United States peaked in the 1970s; since then, most organizations have had a decrease in the percentage of members of a profession who join their professional associations (Putnam, 2000). For counselors, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS; n.d.) indicates that 526,000 individuals were employed as counselors in 2002, the most recent year for which data are available (Note. All statistics are "current" for the time that this article was written.) At the time this article was written, membership in the American Counseling Association (ACA) was 43,869 (R. A. Sites, personal communication, February 18, 2005). Although the discrepancy in years (2002 vs. 2005) for the data I have used weakens the comparison to some degree, the rate (approximately 8%) suggests that only a small proportion of counselors are members of their national professional organization. Given the expense of professional memberships, it might be that counselors are more likely to join the divisions of ACA that reflect the specialties with which counselors identify. The BLS indicated that there were 122,000 persons employed as rehabilitation counselors in 2002; 2005 membership in the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) was 740 (R. A. Sites, personal communication, February 18, 2005), a minuscule percentage. For mental health counselors, 85,000 were listed by the BLS; membership for the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) was 6,000 (L. Moreno, personal communication, February 17, 2005), a rate of about 7%. Substance abuse counselors accounted for 67,000 positions in 2002, with a membership in the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counselors (IAAOC) of 921 (R. A. Sites, personal communication, February 18, 2005). BLS data showed 23,000 marriage and family therapists, with membership in the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC) at 2,344 (R. A. Sites, personal communication, February 18, 2005), yielding an approximate membership rate of 10%. The employment rate in 2002 for elementary and secondary school counselors was 129,460 (BLS, n.d.). The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) reported 14,000 members on its Web site in 2005, which reflected a membership rate close to 11%, the highest among the specialty divisions in ACA.
It is, perhaps, useful here to look at other aligned professions. The same BLS (n.d.) source listed 139,000 jobs held by psychologists in 2002. Membership in the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2005 was 155,000 (G. V. Ball, personal communication, February 24, 2005). This suggests more than 100% membership (perhaps students, teachers of psychology, and other allied groups account for the additional numbers), which is in stark contrast to the data for counseling professionals.
Because ASCA had the highest membership rate among the counseling specialties, it is interesting to compare its rates with those of other education professionals, given that school counselors work in that setting. The Web site for the National Association of School Psychologists reported that in 2005 there were 25,000 school psychologists employed in the United States, with 75% of those persons being at a level of education below a doctorate. The organization's membership was listed at 21,000, or 84% of those in the profession in 2005. Education administrators accounted for 208,850 jobs in 2002. Web sites of the two associations for school principals (National Association of Elementary School Principals and National Association of Elementary School Principals) indicated respective memberships of 29,500 and 46,000 in 2005, making the rate of membership in national professional organizations for school principals approximately 36%. Teachers, including special education teachers, held more than 4 million positions in the United States in 2002. The National Education Association membership in 2005 was 2.7 million, or about 67% of teachers.
Thus, school counselors have joined their national professional organization at a relatively higher rate than other counseling professionals do, but at the lowest rate among professional educator groups. This group of professionals seems to be an interesting one to examine to gain an understanding of membership in professional organizations.
Previous Research
There are few previous investigations of professional affiliation, and none of these have addressed counseling or education professions. Yeager and Kline (1983) studied the factors influencing decisions to join professional nursing associations using a questionnaire developed for that purpose. These authors found relationships between membership and higher levels of education, more hours worked, higher income levels, and work setting (e.g., nurses in physician's offices were more likely to be a member than those working in public health settings). Membership in professional organizations was associated with higher levels of job satisfaction. These researchers also found that members valued some benefits more highly than nonmembers did: professional programs, improvement of the profession, social benefits, and membership benefits were more important to members than to nonmembers. Monetary benefits and personal development opportunities were valued by both members and nonmembers. Results suggested that lack of awareness of benefits of membership negatively influenced decisions to join. Cost of membership and location of activities were also observed to be barriers to joining professional nursing associations (Yeager & Kline, 1983).
In a recent Canadian study, researchers attempted to understand the motivation for membership in the national psychological association (Skarlicki, Lucas, Prociuk, & Latham, 2000). Questionnaires were sent to a stratified random sample of psychologists, including current members, past members, and nonmembers. Five factors that were motivators for membership were identified that explained 55.6% of the observed variance. The factors were labeled Outcomes (described as "people's perceptions of the costs and benefits" of membership), Advocacy (perceptions of the organization's role as an advocate for professional issues), Organizational Justice (the perception that the organization operates fairly and that members' views are taken into account in decisions), Convention (the value of the annual meeting), and Professional Recognition (the extent to which members believed their professional identify and status was enhanced by membership). With the exception of the Convention factor, the factors revealed significant differences between current and former members as well as between current members and nonmembers. Qualitative analysis of comments indicated three additional factors that were motivators for membership: journal quality, networking opportunities, and access to professional liability insurance.
Skarlicki et al. (2000) and Yeager and Kline (1983) sought theoretical perspectives that might provide a rationale for their results and conclusions. These theories are pertinent to the current research, and each is described briefly. Exchange theory originated with the work of George Homans, who relied heavily on the principles of behaviorism in his formulation, and Peter Blau, who expanded the theory to include social organizations (Ritzer & Goodman, 2003). As a kind of social economics, exchange theory postulates that individuals will take a given course of action if perceived benefits outweigh costs (Ritzer & Goodman, 2003). Symbolically, that can be represented as the following: A if B - C > 0. If this theory is applied to professional membership, it suggests that one would join an organization when perceived benefits of that membership are greater than the costs (financial and otherwise). Closely related to exchange theory is expectancy-value theory, which is a component of Bandura's (1997) social cognitive theory. This model postulates that motivation to take a particular action increases with the expectation that a highly valued outcome will result from that action. In the case of professional membership, an individual is more likely to join a professional organization when he or she believes that joining will result in a valued outcome (e.g., respect from others or influence). Social identity theory posits that one's need for positive self-esteem motivates a person to affiliate with social groups that contribute to this positive self-esteem (Turner, 1982). In other words, professionals are more likely to join an organization when such membership increases their self-esteem. That requires a positive evaluation of organization membership. These three theories help explain individual decisions about joining a professional organization.
Organizational justice theory refers to the perception by potential members of the fairness of an organization's policies, practices, and operation and proposes that the perception of fairness is a desirable quality (Greenberg, 1990). Skarlicki et al. (2000) considered organizational justice factors to be the most important in determining whether members remain in an organization. The importance of fairness has an impact on ASCA via members' perceptions of their state's or region's degree of influence and their perceptions of equity of representation among various constituent groups (e.g., practitioners, counselor educations, researchers, and students). Organizational justice theory may explain the perceived benefits of membership and/or value placed on membership in the previous theories.
* School Counselors as a Case Study
The rate of membership among school counselors in their professional organization is particularly important because the national organization has devised and is promoting a national model for school counseling programs. If the organization represents only a small proportion of counselors in the field, the impact of such efforts is diminished. The organization also seeks to recognize schools in...
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