20 Years of AERA Membership

So at the end of last week I received the following message.

Dear Dr. Barbour,For 20 years, AERA has been part of your professional life. I noticed though you have not had a chance to renew for 2024. May I help you do so? I can set you up for 2024 and 2025 if you like so that you don’t need to worry about making another payment anytime soon. I would be happy to take care of this over the phone if you ring me at [removed]. Or, you may log into your myAERA account to pay online. We are so thankful for your long membership and hope you will continue to support AERA as we seek to advance the field. Best wishes, Sean Sean Twombly (he/him) Director of Membership, Outreach, and Engagement American Educational Research Association 1430 K St., NW, Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005 Office: [removed] Twitter: @sean_twombly ### About AERA The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Threads View this release online.

American Educational Research Association 1430 K Street, NW Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 238-3200

Yes, I was a member of AERA from 2004 until 2023.  With the exception of 2011 (when I was in New Zealand for sabbatical), I have attended the AERA annual meeting ever year from 2004 to 2023.  I didn’t attend in 2024 because I was on sabbatical, and in New Zealand once again.  So I let me membership lapse – as they don’t send out hard copies of Educational Researcher, the American Journal of Educational Research, the Review of Educational Research, and the Review of Research in Education anymore.

When I received the message last week, I started to think about the value of membership.  Some of the organizations that I belong to I am only a member because when you attend the conference the fee includes an annual membership.  Others I am a member of because the membership + member conference rate is cheaper than the non-member conference rate, and I want to attend or attended their conference.  But I’ll be honest and say that I’m not a member of a single professional or academic organization beyond those two conditions.

So I ask, beyond an annual conference, what is the value of professional or academic organization membership these days?