Abstract
Interest in public engagement with science activities has grown in recent decades, especially engagement through social media and among graduate students. Research on scientists’ views of engagement, particularly two-way engagement and engagement through social media, is sparse, particularly research examining graduate students’ views. We compare graduate students and faculty in biological and physical sciences at a land-grant, research-intensive university in their views on engagement. We find that both groups overwhelmingly believe that public input in decision-making around science issues is important, and hold largely pro-engagement attitudes. Graduate students, however, have somewhat more optimistic views of engagement through social media and on the appropriateness of discussing science controversy on social media. We discuss implications for graduate education and future engagement.
Highlights
Since the 1990s, U.S academic research funders and institutions have placed greater importance on incorporating public engagement in scientific research [1]
Many similarities and several significant differences exist between the graduate students and faculty in biological and physical sciences in their frequency of engagement, views of the incentives of using social media for engagement, appropriateness of discussion topics on social media, and views of the public (Table 1)
Given the important role that perceptions of an interested public can play in encouraging engagement and in views of the purpose of engagement [18,19,20, 47], this finding suggests that both graduate students and Graduate student and faculty perceptions of social media and the role of the public in science engagement the faculty see social media as providing positive opportunities for engaging with the public
Summary
Since the 1990s, U.S academic research funders and institutions have placed greater importance on incorporating public engagement in scientific research [1]. Its current and future progress depends on institutional structures that support engagement and on changing norms and culture among graduate students, faculty, and administrators toward valuing engagement as part of academic careers [1,2,3]. History of public engagement with science in the U.S. Interest in public engagement has grown as people increasingly perceive science as integrated with and expected to respond to political issues and societal values [21]. Interest in public engagement has grown as people increasingly perceive science as integrated with and expected to respond to political issues and societal values [21] These expectations are due to a mixture of factors including increased federal funding of science, scientific developments with large implications for society, and greater push from institutions, researchers, and the public for discourse on policy-relevant scientific issues. Science as a national priority led to goals of developing greater science education and outreach to “recruit” and “cultivate” the great scientific minds [22]
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