Earlier this year we set out to better understand what Stempra means to you, what’s working well, and how we can better support you. To do this, we launched a survey, and over 110 of you took the time to respond. This represents roughly one in five of our membership and we’ve been informed that’s an impressive response – thank you!
The good news
The message coming back was one of overwhelming satisfaction and warmth towards Stempra. Specifically, it was the community, events, and connections that are valued the most. Hearing this has given us real momentum for the year ahead, and we’ll be looking at how we can build on what’s already working.
The survey also gave us a clearer picture of who makes up the Stempra community. Members work across a range of organisation types, with around half based in universities or charity and patient organisations. Most are in London and the South East, with colleagues also spread across the rest of the UK.
Happily, the events and training came through as the most valued part of membership. That’s something that resonates with us, because it’s where so much of the work happens. Networking and the email discussion list also ranked highly, reinforcing just how much the connections across our community are worth.
What you want more of
Across career levels, there was a strong appetite for practical, skills-based learning such as through applied workshops and webinars. Some of the topics include AI and impact, evaluation and measurement. We’ll be considering ways to cover the topics in effective and novel ways.
Hearing the wider picture
We also heard that we have a wide range of members who are at different stages of their careers, across different regions of the UK, and communicating science across many different disciplines. Your feedback is helping us think about how we make sure Stempra feels relevant and valuable to all of you.
What comes next
The committee is now working through the findings in detail to make sure we respond thoughtfully and most effectively to the results. Our goal is to use what you’ve told us to sharpen Stempra’s offerings as a whole – whether that’s through more mentoring opportunities, further regional activities, or contributing to the community in other ways.
Excitingly, most respondents said they would like to get more involved themselves. That includes helping with regional meet‑ups, speaking at events, or contributing blogs and case studies – thank you. We’ll be exploring how to make it easier for you to do that.
We’ll be sharing more about our plans in the coming months. In the meantime, if the survey has sparked thoughts you’d like to share directly, we’d love to hear from you, drop us a message at info@stempra.org.uk.
And if you’re not yet using all that Stempra has to offer, from the email list to the resources on the website, why not explore. This community is yours, the more we all put in, the more we all get out.