Emerging issues for the professions in the 1990s

Responses to the 1990 Omnibus Survey give information about how ASHA members will fare in the coming decade. In a period when employment stability and educational preparation are important issues, ASHA members enjoy a great deal of employment stability and think they have received adequate educational preparation. However, because nearly one third of ASHA members work in private practice, many may be responsible for purchasing their own health insurance and, therefore, may be particularly concerned with soaring medical costs in the future. As our way of life changes, ASHA members change with it. They are having smaller families and nearly half are interested in acquiring non-English language skills to keep pace with increased language diversity in the U.S. The demographic characteristics of ASHA membership, including the ratio of males to females, average age, and racial/ethnic background have remained stable over the past several years. The dynamics of the profession can be discerned, however, through an analysis of opinions on professional issues such as mandatory continuing education requirements, entry-level degree requirements for certification and specialty certification. On the whole, ASHA members indicate they would accept mandated continuing education requirements to maintain their Certificate of Clinical Competence, they prefer to keep the master's degree as the degree required for clinical certification and they do not favor ASHA moving in the direction of specialty certification. ASHA members reported that they are satisfied with the job the Association is doing in serving its members. They would like to learn about related professions through ASHA publications and nearly half sought professional interaction at an ASHA Annual Convention in the past 5 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)