Assessment of Member & General Public
Attitudes Towards APEGGA - 1998 Final Report

Date:
July 17, 1998

Presented by:
The Advisory Group
A Division of TELUS Marketing Services

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Key Findings Member Survey:

• The typical member continues to be between the ages of 26 to 45 years (58%), employed (94%) in the oil and gas or mining industry (50%) and has been a member of APEGGA 5 to 20 years (54%). The annual household income reported indicates that members have a higher level of income than the general population.
  
  
• The majority of respondents (72%) were satisfied with their APEGGA membership. Specifically, 21% were "very satisfied" and 51% were "somewhat satisfied." There was an increase in respondents who expressed dissatisfaction in 1998 compared to 1993 (18% versus 9%, respectively).
  
  
• Seventy-eight percent (78%) of respondents indicated that they receive "fair" (37%), "good" (34%) or "very good" (7%) value from the Association. Nineteen percent (19%), however, stated that they receive "poor value," which is a slight increase compare to 1993 (19% versus 15%, respectively).
  
  
• Approximately 40% of respondents reported having attended an APEGGA event within the past two years. Three percent (3%) reported that they had served on an APEGGA committee over that same time period. The primary reason given by members who had not been involved in an Association event or committee was that they were "too busy" (45% for APEGGA events and 42% for an Association committee).
  
  
• Respondents reported moderate awareness levels regarding APEGGA activities, its role and the manner in which the association is governed. Compared to 1993, there was little change in member knowledge of APEGGA in 1998.
  
  

• On a combined agreement basis (i.e., "strongly" or "somewhat" agreed), the majority of respondents (86%) agreed that "APEGGA is the recognized leader in Alberta of the Associations involved in the application of science and technology for the benefit of society," that "APEGGA projects a positive image of engineers, geologists and geophysicists to the general public" (84%), and that they "feel confident that APEGGA will address issues of concern to their profession" (79%). Compared to 1993, respondents in 1998 were less likely to agree that "APEGGA’s leadership recognizes and deals with member concerns" (66% versus 72%, respectively).
  
  
• APEGGA’s main strengths, as identified by members, were the setting of membership standards and guidelines as well as its representation of the professions to the community at large. Identified weaknesses included a lack of public awareness of the Association and the professions it represents and a need for greater membership involvement in the Association.
  
  
• More than two-thirds of members (64%) stated that APEGGA was "somewhat effective" (56%) or "very effective" (8%) at identifying issues of concern to members. Combined, 26% of members were of the opinion that APEGGA is "somewhat ineffective" (19%) or "not at all effective" (7%) in identifying such issues. Eleven percent (11%) were uncertain.
  
  
• The vast majority of respondents agreed that APEGGA should be involved in a range of activities, such as promoting the professions to the general public and students as well as the communicating to members about the Association and its activities. The lowest level of recorded support and priority rating related to APEGGA sponsoring networking and social events for members.
  
  
• The Majority of respondents (81%) were aware that APEGGA has a professional development program and generally supported it.
  
  
• Just over two-thirds of respondents indicated support for a mentoring program (68%). Those who supported the program noted that it could play an important role in the education and development of new members, as well as provide relevant experience to such individuals.
  
  
• Respondents indicated that APEGGA was moderately effective in communicating with members about its activities, accomplishments and Association business. There was little variation observed between engineering and geoscience members in their evaluation of APEGGA’s communications.
  
  
• General agreement was expressed that APEGGA does adequately represent the professions to government and the general public. However, there was considerable uncertainty toward its representation to industry lobby groups, and other professional organizations.
  
  
• Just over one third of respondents (39%) indicated that they had contacted APEGGA’s offices in the past year. Of those who had made contact, 91% reported satisfaction with their experience. There was minimal variation in satisfaction with APEGGA office contact between engineers and geoscience members.
  
  
• Just over one third of members (39%) reported that they read "some" of their copy of The PEGG while approximately one quarter (24%) indicated that they read almost all of it. Very few reported that they do not read The PEGG (5%). Virtually all (78%) agreed that The PEGG is an important communications tool with 50% viewing the publication as "very important."
  
  
• Fifty-nine percent (59%) of the members were aware that APEGGA has a website. Of those who were aware of the site, 41% had accessed it. Overall, respondents gave the website a moderate but positive rating. Those members who indicated that APEGGA’s website was poorly done reported that the site was not informative enough, and needed more links to other relevant web pages.
  
  
• Two-thirds of members (66%) indicated that they would want the Association to e-mail information to them as a member. Engineers were more likely than the geoscience members to prefer email communications (69% versus 35% respectively).
  
  
• Almost half of the respondents (49%) reported having seen, heard or read an ad by APEGGA in the past year. The majority of respondents indicated that the main message of the ad was "promoting public awareness of APEGGA," and "promoting the professions as a career choice."
  
  

Those respondents who reported having seen, read or heard an APEGGA advertisement primarily cited newspapers (42%) and magazines (25%) as the source of the recalled ad.

The majority of respondents indicated that their either liked the ad (40%) or thought the ad was "ok, I can take it or leave it" (42%). Very few respondents reported that they disliked the ad (3%). Those who liked the ad stated that it was "well presented," "to the point," and "eye catching." Most members also found the recalled ad to be believable (80%), informative (69%) and made them feel good about being a member of APEGGA (66%).

• Members agreed that "the professional designation reflects a high standard of professional competence" (86%) and that "engineers, geologists and geophysicists are well recognized by Albertans as making a positive contribution to society" (82%). More than two-thirds agreed that "engineers, geologists and geophysicists are recognized by the general public as leaders in the community" (67%) and "I feel confident that my membership fees are well spent by APEGGA" (66%). Slightly fewer agreed that "APEGGA is a well know organization among the general public" (53%).
  
  

General Public Survey:

• The demographic profile reveals that respondents were primarily from an urban centre (72%), between the ages of 26 to 55 years (71%), and from dual households, either with or without children (51% and 23%, respectively). Forty-four percent (44%) reported annual household incomes from $35,000 to less than $75,000. The survey sample was representative of the Alberta population, as profiles by Statistics Canada census data.
  
  
• Respondents were more likely to report personally knowing an engineer (56%) than a geologist (39%) or a geophysicist (26%). Twenty-one percent (21%) indicated that they personally do not know anyone in those fields.
  
  
• Top-of-mind impressions of the engineering profession frequently pertained to "builders, designers and construction." Geology brought to mind "rocks and rock formations" while geophysics was associated with the "earth and soil formation."
  
  
• Professions relating to computer programming were mentioned most often (32%) as being popular among high school students. Engineering was also mentioned as a popular profession for students (19%) followed closely by medicine (i.e., doctor) (14%). Other frequently cited responses include lawyer (14%) and teacher (13%). The popularity of the engineering, geology and geophysics professions in 1998 did not appear to be vary significantly from the 1993 results.
  
  
• Respondents were more likely to recommend engineering (83%) to a youth considering a career choice than geology (65%) or geophysics (52%).
  
  
• Reasons for recommending the profession of engineering were associated with the perception that it offers a lot of opportunity, variety and travel, and that it is a good paying job. Reasons for not recommending engineering as a career choice related to the perceived demanding educational requirements and the respondents’ having a lack of information about the profession.
  
  
• Geology was described as an interesting, worthwhile profession for a youth considering a career choice. Respondents indicated that they would be most likely to recommend the profession if the student had an aptitude for, or an interest in, geology. Those who would not recommend geology justified this by noting that they did not have enough information or knowledge about the profession or that the field offered limited employment growth opportunities.
  
  

• The primary reason given for recommending geophysics would be if the student had an aptitude for, or an interest in, geophysics while those who would not recommend it felt that they lacked the needed knowledge about geophysics to recommend the profession to a student.
  
  
• The majority of respondents (95%) indicated that engineers, geologists and geophysicists do provide benefits to Albertans. Benefits associated with the profession of engineering included buildings, housing, the oilfields and highways. Geology and geophysics were perceived to benefit Albertans in terms of the oilfields and economic development.
  
  
• Overall, respondents had a positive image of the engineering and geoscience professions, although engineering did receive a more favourable rating than the geosciences. Results indicate that the general public perceives the professions of engineering, geology and geophysics to be highly paid, interesting and people oriented with good job opportunities. To a lesser extent, respondents considered the professionals to be recognized leaders in the community and consider it difficult to become an engineer, geologist or a geophysicist.
  
  
• The most significant difference in respondent perceptions during the 1993 and 1998 survey periods related to job opportunities. Respondents in 1998 were more likely to perceive there to be good job opportunities for engineers as compared to 1993 (86% versus 51%, respectively). A similar increase was found for the geology and geophysics professions (64% in 1998 versus 41% in 1993).
  
  
• The 1998 respondents were slightly more likely to agree than the 1993 sample that engineering involves working with people (89% versus 81%, respectively). Additionally, they were more likely to indicate that geology and geophysics are prestigious professions (77% versus 69% in 1993).
  
  
• More than one-third of respondents (38%) knew that the professions of engineering, geology and geophysics are regulated by a governing body. Of this group, 20% knew that the name of the organization is APEGGA. Thirty-three percent (33%) of those who were unaware that the professions are regulated by a governing body (n=370) indicated that they had heard of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists on an aided basis. One quarter (25%) reported that they were familiar with the Association’s role or purpose.
  
  
• The vast majority of respondents (91% or higher) agreed with that APEGGA should be involved in activities promoting the professions. The highest levels of agreement were noted for "promoting the professions to students" (99%) and "promoting science and technology to the general public" (95%).
  
  
• A small number of respondents (14%) recalled seeing, reading or hearing an APEGGA advertisement in the past year. Of those who recalled an ad (n=54), 17% indicated that the main message of the ad was recruitment or raising awareness of the professions. The majority of respondents recalled having seen the recalled APEGGA ad in either a newspaper (37%), magazine (19%) or on television (15%). The commonly mentioned newspapers were the Calgary Herald and/or the Edmonton Journal.
  
  
• The majority of respondents agreed that the APEGGA ad recalled was believable (74%) and informative (67%). Many also agreed that the ad did a "good job of communicating information about the professions" (57%) and that they could "relate to the ad" (52%). Eight percent (8%) indicated that the recalled ad was confusing.
  
  
• The majority of respondents indicated that news stories would be the best way for APEGGA to communicate information to them (61%). Public displays (16%) and information pamphlets or direct mail (16%) were also popular mentions.