Dashboard of the ASDC sector survey
For the third year running, ASDC has gathered data from across the membership network in our sector survey.
Thirty-eight organisations including science and discovery centres, museums, outreach organisations, research centres and eco-attractions completed the survey, providing detailed information across a range of categories. With all four UK nations represented, the dataset is a powerful benchmarking tool, providing strategy-informing insights and details on trends across the network.
The survey covers five broad areas:
- Organisational structure
- Audiences
- Workforce
- Finances
- The year ahead
The information is presented in an interactive dashboard where users can filter by organisation type, size, or region across the UK. All answers are anonymised and the data is only shared with ASDC members that have completed the survey, encouraging detailed responses.
This combined breadth, depth and honesty makes the survey’s insights especially valuable to senior leaders across the membership, as well as for ASDC and the team to provide support where needed.
One key takeaway from the results is that the appetite from visitors for community engagement is high, highlighting a demand that our sector it well-equipped to meet.
However, the data also reflects the challenges our network faces during a time of financial difficulty across the country. Respondents did not shy away from the realities of these challenges, reinforcing the survey’s value as a tool for advocacy and action.
ASDC is dedicated to championing our members and the informal science engagement sector as a whole. Facilitating the sector survey is one of the ways we work to strengthen our collective voice, as cross-network collaboration is essential for impactful advocacy. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their data.
"Thank you to the team for the massive work you are doing to represent the combined impact across our sector and help in collecting benchmarking data that didn't formerly exist."
Survey respondent
Example of the dashboard for responses to the question 'What are your challenges for the year ahead?', with the responses blurred out.
Responses to the question 'What does ASDC mean to you?'
Our ASDC Conference is an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues across the network, discuss shared experiences and seek advice and inspiration from peers. Find out more and register for this year’s event.