Science Center Statistics: Trends in the NAMES Region and the World

For decades, the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC, Washington DC, USA) has collected data from its member organizations in an effort to better understand the impact that science centers and museums have in their communities. These annual surveys help science center professionals investigate and understand the following: where the field stands year over year, who its constituents are, who the field is serving (and by default, who it isn’t serving), where sources of funds are coming from and where those funds are allocated (e.g. operations, staffing, capital projects, and program delivery). The annual report that is generated from these surveys also help leadership to identify mega and minor trends in the science center field.

Using the ASTC survey as a foundation, a customized survey was developed and distributed to science centers and museums from the NAMES member network in spring 2016. This new NAMES survey collected information on members’ most recent operating year (2014-2015) and includes information on institutional funding sources, annual visitation numbers, and program delivery modes (onsite and outreach) among other categories. Findings from the first NAMES survey will be presented, and the audience will have an opportunity to review, challenge and discuss the findings in this participatory reverse session. Our featured panelists will be point out trends they have found in the data and will compare trends seen in the NAMES survey to those done with the larger ASTC member base.

The session is intended to offer NAMES-region science center professionals a deeper understanding of how their institutions compare to others in the region, and may help leaders identify gaps in service or might provide a unified story for the region. Quantifying the collective impact of science centers in the NAMES region can help organizations articulate how their work adds value to the local economy, enriches the lives of its community members and connects the general populace with science. In other words, the survey and the session are intended to focus attention on the impact that our organizations have on their constituents.

Additionally, NAMES-region results will be compared to the most recent results from ASTC’s membership survey and similar or divergent trends will be highlighted.