Who Will Lead Next: Where are the New Volunteers?

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) has more than 12,000 members. The majority of ASEE members are faculty, staff and students from engineering and technology colleges and universities; librarians; STEM and K-12 educators; and corporate members, government agencies and professional societies. ASEE consists of over 50 divisions, twelve sections, four zones, and six councils. Each of these has an officer or set of officers, which lead the divisions, sections, zones or councils. This paper documents a pilot study that examines the past, present and future leaders of the Engineering Technology Division (ETD) and Engineering Technology Council (ETC). The primary goal of this research effort is to explore the various avenues and opportunities for future leadership of EDT and ETC. Past and current leaders of ETD and ETC will be surveyed to determine the factors that drive the motivation and dedication for service leadership within ASEE. The membership of ETD and ETC will be surveyed to find out what the barriers are to becoming leaders specifically in ETD and ETC. Depending on the findings of this pilot study, the authors will expand this research in a larger scope within ASEE and into other societies. Some of the questions that this research will attempt to answer are: 1.) “Do other ASEE divisions and councils encounter problems in recruiting and retaining new leaders?” and 2.) “Do other professional societies have difficulties finding volunteer leaders from academia?