Scientific Occupations Research Articles

How social evaluations shape trust in 45 types of scientists.

Science can offer solutions to a wide range of societal problems. Key to capitalizing on such solutions is the public's trust and willingness to grant influence to scientists in shaping policy. However, previous research on determinants of trust is limited and does not factor in the diversity of scientific occupations. The present study (N = 2,780; U.S. participants) investigated how four well-established dimensions of social evaluations (competence, assertiveness, morality, warmth) shape trust in 45 types of scientists (from agronomists to zoologists). Trust in most scientists was relatively high but varied considerably across occupations. Perceptions of morality and competence emerged as the most important antecedents of trust, in turn predicting the willingness to grant scientists influence in managing societal problems. Importantly, the contribution of morality (but not competence) varied across occupations: Morality was most strongly associated with trust in scientists who work on contentious and polarized issues (e.g., climatologists). Therefore, the diversity of scientific occupations must be taken into account to more precisely map trust, which is important for understanding when scientific solutions find their way to policy.

Occupational differences in the prevalence and severity of long-COVID: analysis of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey

ObjectivesTo establish whether prevalence and severity of long-COVID symptoms vary by industry and occupation.MethodsWe used Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS) data (February 2021–April 2022) of working-age participants...

The Relationship between Delegation and Incentives across Occupations: Evidence and Theory

A large literature, both theoretical and empirical, suggests that delegation of authority and incentives should have a positive relationship. Using data from a large cross section of British establishments, we show that the positive relationship between incentives and delegation that has been consistently documented in the empirical literature masks a stark difference between job types. We classify jobs into two categories: complex jobs include professional, technical and scientific occupations and simple jobs consist of all other occupations with a lower-level code in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. We find that for simple jobs, the relationship between delegation and incentives is positive as has been found in the previous literature, whereas for complex jobs it is negative. To explain this negative relationship for complex jobs, we develop a model where tasks have a risk-return tradeoff and where a single performance measure has to induce both task selection and effort. We find that if tasks vary sufficiently by risk and return and if effort is noisy to measure, then delegation and incentives have a negative relationship.

Social evaluations of scientific occupations

Science and scientists are among the key drivers of societal progress and technological developments. While research has demonstrated that science is perceived as heterogeneous, work on perceptions of scientists usually considers “scientists” as members of a homogeneous group. In the present research, we went beyond this general categorization by investigating differences in social evaluations of different types of scientists. Across four studies conducted in the UK and the US (total N = 1441), we discovered that members of the most frequently mentioned scientific occupations (35 and 36 respectively in each country) are seen as highly competent, relatively moral, but only moderately sociable. We also found that individuals perceive differences between scientific occupations across social dimensions, which were captured in clusters of scientific occupations. Chemists, biologists, and physicists represented the most mentioned and highly prototypical scientific occupations. Perceived prototypicality was primarily associated with competence ratings, meaning that, in the public’s view, to be a scientist means to be competent. Perceptions of morality and sociability varied notably across clusters. Overall, we demonstrate that focusing only on “scientists” leads to overgeneralization, and that distinguishing between different types of scientists provides a much-needed nuanced picture of social evaluations of scientists across occupations.

Do innovative firms pay higher wages? Micro-level evidence from Brazil

This paper explores the relationship between innovation and wages using Brazil’s employer–employee census (RAIS) and a novel measure of innovation derived from the share of technical and scientific occupations of workers. The results show a robust and positive wage premium associated with innovative firms. The decomposition of this innovation-related wage premium suggests that it is larger for workers in manufacturing, although also positive and significant for those in agriculture and services; and larger for large firms. More importantly, the paper explores the causality between innovation and wages. First, we find some empirical support for “self-selection” — firms that innovate already pay higher wages before becoming innovators. Second, we find strong evidence of wage increases associated with starting innovation activity, which are persistent for three years after firms start innovating. Innovation pays off also for workers.

Occupations, Natural Commons and Polycentric Organizing: Social-symbolic Work in the Anthropocene

We study social-symbolic work to understand institutional change in the Anthropocene. The social-symbolic perspective emphasizes the role of multiple and heterogeneous agents engage in a wide range of purposeful and reflective efforts to create, maintain, adapt or transform institutions- This connects institutional change to cope with significant transformation of natural commons occupations. supporting institutional change to address grand environmental challenges. Studying the transformation of inland lake fisheries traditional and novel scientific occupations in Finland in the last decade, we build a model of polycentric organizing and social-symbolic work, that addresses two co-evolving trajectories of occupations that show the acceleration of social-symbolic work to trigger a historical shift. First, the current state of natural commons which focuses on local ecological problems and traditional knowledge. Second, the ideal state of natural commons that focuses on ecological health and the interconnection of lakes with large ecosystems and planetary boundaries and science. We contribute to social-symbolic work theory and institutional change extending to collective action institutions and polycentric organizing.

Abstract D039: Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC): A new program to increase underrepresented minorities in clinical cancer research careers

Abstract An eight-week intensive pipeline training program was designed to recruit and prepare underrepresented minority undergraduate students to pursue careers as clinical research professionals and obtain advanced degrees in cancer research to improve diversity and culturally responsive care in clinical cancer research. Cancer clinical trials are imperative to advance therapies and improve patient survival rates, yet barriers exist preventing underrepresented minorities (URM) from participating. There is a need to foster a diverse healthcare workforce who mirror the larger population, yet national statistics report sluggish growth in the recruitment of underrepresented minorities (URM) to scientific occupations. Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC) is a newly funded five-year National Cancer Institute R25 education program recruiting URM, to become clinical research professionals (CRPs) or seek advanced degrees in clinical cancer research. The eight-week program immerses students in hands-on experiences framed by the Joint Task Force for Clinical Trials Competency Domains. Grounded in theory of experiential learning and culturally responsive teaching, 35 faculty and CRPs taught and served as student champions, spanning pediatric oncology, oncology pharmacy, surgical oncology, gynecologic oncology, genetics, palliative care and medical oncology. Scholars experienced first-hand the methods in which complex trials provide innovative precision cancer treatments. Scholars completed a ‘Wicked Problems’ research project on cancer health disparities. Analysis of SPARCC evaluation data and one-on-one exit interviews utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods. Of 39 applications received, 62% (24/39) identified as URM and 77% (30/39) were females. All applicants were enrolled in undergraduate programs or recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Most were pursuing biomedical science majors (30/39) with interest to seek careers in healthcare (34/39). In June 2019, ten scholars were accepted (9 females, 1 male), 90% of the matriculating cohort identified as URM. Over 84 different workshops were facilitated, and Scholars participated in three, two-week practicum rotations. Workshop sessions were evaluated by students using free text, 5-point Likert scale questions rating efficacy, satisfaction, and skills of the facilitator and an overall ten-point rating. Wicked Problems projects focused on: stigma of prostate health among African American males, cervical cancer screening among Latinas, impact of food insecurities on cancer treatment, skin cancer prevention among African Americans, and improving enrollment of URMs in clinical trials. Evaluation data is forthcoming. SPARCC has paved the way as an innovative and pedagogically sound education training program for URM. By curating an experience integrating research methods, cancer epidemiology, and health disparities, Scholars have a passion for clinical cancer research. Citation Format: Kristina Kaljo, Robert Treat, Janet Rader. Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC): A new program to increase underrepresented minorities in clinical cancer research careers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D039.

Hairdressing in space: Depiction of gender in science books for children

Abstract Stereotypes in the media both reflect and perpetuate the notion that science is a masculine pursuit. The aim of the current study is to explore whether such stereotypes extend to imagery within children’s science books. To determine the extent of stereotypes in gender representation, both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. Results demonstrated that females were under-represented in images across the books surveyed. Analyses of images of adults demonstrated under-representation of women in both physics and mathematics books, but images of children showed no significant difference between genders. Analyses of the target age of the children’s books revealed that books targeted at older children contained fewer images of adult females. Qualitative visual analyses revealed that books about space exploration trivialized women’s expertise, diminished their perceived technical competence, failed to acknowledge their contribution or presence and represented them in a manner that suggested that they were passive, lower status and superficial. Books about science that are currently available to children in libraries are not balanced in terms of their representation of gender. More balanced imagery in children’s science books of women actively participating in scientific occupations would help to demonstrate that careers in these areas are meaningful, fulfilling and achievable for women.

“A Person Not In The Story”: Clérambault’s And M. R. James’s Textile/Textual Folds

Abstract Though unrelated when it comes to their scientific occupations, Clérambault and M. R. James give to the 21st-century observer the impression that they were strikingly similar in their compulsive preoccupation with draped bodies or with what Gilles Deleuze names “the Fold”. The article investigates the manner in which the French psychiatrist exploited his passion in the innumerable photographs he took in Morocco and in which the English philologist exorcised his fear in fiction, especially in one of his best-known short stories, “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”.

The Relationship between Delegation and Incentives Across Occupations: Evidence and Theory

A large literature suggests that incentive pay and delegation of worker authority are positively related. Using data from a large cross section of British establishments, we show that the positive relationship found in the empirical literature masks a stark difference across jobs. Classifying jobs into two categories (complex jobs, including professional, technical and scientific occupations, and simple jobs, consisting of all other non‐managerial occupations) we find a positive relationship for simple jobs and a negative relationship for complex jobs. To explain this negative relationship, we develop a model where stronger incentives distort a worker's decisions towards low risk‐return tasks.

Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Various US Occupations (NHANES 2007–08): Assessment Using Serum Cotinine and Urinary Total NNAL

Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Various US Occupations (NHANES 2007–08): Assessment Using Serum Cotinine and Urinary Total NNALAbstract Number:2127 Binnian Wei*, John T. Bernert, Benjamin C. Blount, Connie S. Sosnoff, and Lanqing Wang Binnian Wei* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , John T. Bernert Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Benjamin C. Blount Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Connie S. Sosnoff Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , and Lanqing Wang Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author AbstractBackground: Our previous study using serum cotinine has shown that second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure varied significantly among different occupations. Urinary 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), a major metabolite of the tobacco-specific carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), has an excretion half-life of 10–18 days. Thus urinary NNAL could reflect a relatively longer SHS exposure interval compared to serum cotinine which has an half-life of only about 16 hours.Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the total urinary NNAL concentrations among US occupations.Methods: Samples came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2008. Nonsmokers were those participants with serum cotinine <=10 ng/mL, aged 18 and above.Results: For total urinary NNAL, non-smoking workers in legal and scientific occupations had the lowest geometric mean (GM) values of 0.56 and 0.57 ng/g creatinine, respectively, while the food preparation/serving occupation had the highest GM of 1.47 ng/g creatinine, followed by installation/maintenance/repair workers (1.24). Those two occupations were 79% and 51%, respectively, higher than the GM (0.82 ng/g creatinine) for all occupation groups. For serum cotinine, the lowest GM values were found in legal (0.018 ng/mL) and education/training/library (0.018 ng/mL) occupations, while the highest GM values were again identified in food preparation/serving (0.096 ng/mL) and installation/maintenance/repair (0.081 ng/mL) occupations. Those two occupations had 148% and 109% higher serum cotinine, respectively, compared to GM for all occupation groups (0.039 ng/mL).Conclusions: Occupations that had the highest total urinary levels of the tobacco-specific carcinogen NNAL were consistent with those found to have the highest serum cotinine levels. Targeted efforts may be needed to decrease SHS for those occupations, especially within food preparation/service workplaces.

Occupation as a Risk Factor for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality and have been rising in incidence. Little is known about the effects of worker classifications on HDP. This large-scale study examines associations between occupational classifications and HDP. We examined 385,537 Texas Electronic Registrar Birth Registration 2005 birth certificates. Maternal occupations were coded using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Crude and adjusted risks for HDP among working women within occupational groupings were analyzed and compared with risks of nonemployed women. The risk of developing HDP varies across SOC occupational classifications. After controlling for known confounders, women employed in business, management, and the legal and social services, teaching, counseling, and healthcare professions are at higher risk for developing HDP than women employed in support industries, such as food preparation, housekeeping, cosmetic and personal care services, or nonemployed women. Women employed in computer, engineering, architectural, and scientific occupations also carry greater risks, although these increased risks do not affect women of normal weight. Worker classification is an independent risk factor for HDP. Additional work must be done to examine the complex interactions among individual maternal genetics, biology, and physical and mental abilities and how they affect adverse health outcomes. Examining job stressors may shed light on these occupational variations and their potential HDP associations. Strategies to mitigate job stressors in the workplace should be considered.

Life Sciences and Regional Innovation: One Path or Many?

Despite the widespread interest of national, regional and local governments in promoting their own biotechnology industry, it is now well known that this sector exhibits characteristically high levels of geographical clustering in a relatively small number of locations. However, what is less well understood is how these regions have emerged and evolved through time. While there is a tendency to conceive of the necessary and sufficient conditions in fairly universal and formulaic terms—strong research universities with leading medical schools, a well-developed local venture capital industry, and a deep labour market in highly skilled scientific occupations are factors that are most commonly emphasized—we contend that the evolutionary pathways followed by individual regions with successful life science sectors are far from identical. Differences in local historical, geographical and institutional conditions are likely to shape and constrain the subsequent actual evolution of life science industries in particular places in distinctive ways. In this paper, we examine this issue through the lens of a national, 5 years, collaborative research initiative analyzing cluster development and evolution in Canada. We present findings from the study of life science industries in Canada's three largest city regions (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver), as well as in three smaller city regions (Ottawa, Saskatoon and Halifax). Despite the conventional wisdom that public and private research institutions determine the trajectory of life sciences cluster development, our research suggests that a multiplicity of institutional and non-institutional actors, alongside background regional conditions and chance events, provide the impetus for cluster emergence and growth. We find that regional-scale policy interventions within an overarching national institutional framework have both intended and unintended consequences in helping determine the shape and nature of each region's life science clusters. Finally, we find that both local and non-local sources of knowledge are important to sustaining growth, innovation and dynamism within life science clusters.

L’évolution des interêts professionnels des lycéens de classe de première : 1970–2005

Both (male and female) forms of an interests inventory, the QIP/m and QIP/f, have been completed by two samples of students in eleventh grade in 2005: one of 200 males and 337 females, the other of 181 males and 268 females. Results have been compared with those obtained in 1970. On the one hand appear rises: rise of interests for business occupations; rise of interests for administrative occupations in males (when these interests are stable in females) and of interests for home occupations in females (not assessed in males). On the other hand appear falls: fall of interests for scientific occupations (especially in females) and for technical occupations; fall of interests for occupations close to nature in males (not assessed in females). Variations in interests for literary, altruistic and sport occupations are inconsistent and differences between genders do not seem notably modified. All these variations are coherent with those elsewhere observed on general interests and values of students; they seem to follow a global social evolution, but they indicate future discrepancies between expectations of the young and offers of the labour market.

The Institute of Accounts: a community of the competent

The professionalization of the US accounting profession during the fifteen years prior to the first CPA law in 1896 is explored through a description of the most significant professional organization of the period, the Institute of Accounts (IA). The IA followed the dominant US professionalizing model for scientific occupations. The organizational ideal of the community of the competent, first used by physical scientists and then by social scientists and engineers, was used by the IA as a means of identifying, cultivating and conferring professional competencies. The professional environment leading up to the passage of the first CPA law was dominated by this ideal of developing, within a self-regulated community, the science of accounts through essays, papers and debates among the most competent of the profession.

GRADUATE ENROLLMENT DECISIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING MAJORS: A SURVEY OF GRE TEST TAKERS

To understand better the factors involved in students' decisions to pursue graduate study in natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering (NSME), this project surveyed a stratified sample of 1,651 NSME majors who took the GRE General Test in December 1990 and planned to enroll in graduate school. The survey asked about their undergraduate experiences, the quality of their departments or programs, ratings of their own skills, expected earnings after completing graduate school, characteristics of the jobs they would most like to have, importance of various job characteristics and activities, when they decided on their graduate fields of study, opinions about those fields, and family background, including whether parents were in technical occupations and whether they approved of their fields of study. We compared the survey responses and GRE records of students planning to continue in NSME with students planning to change fields of study. We found that the decision to change fields was not related to GRE scores, gender, parents' education, or ethnicity. Half of all respondents, both women and men, had fathers in technical, mechanical, or scientific occupations, but considerably more women than men had mothers in those occupations. While almost all respondents reported that their parents approved both of their undergraduate and graduate major field selections, slightly more White than Black respondents reported parental approval, and slightly more males than females reported parental approval. Parental approval was unrelated to whether they remained in NSME or not. Compared with students continuing in NSME, students who planned to change fields for graduate study liked their undergraduate courses less, had difficulty seeing themselves as scientists or being able to make a contribution in the sciences, did not receive as much encouragement from instructors to continue in NSME, had slightly lower grades in their major, found the courses more difficult, felt they had less in common with their peers, and rated the department and quality of instruction lower. They also rated their verbal skills somewhat higher and spent more hours in community service. Those leaving NSME presented a profile of more socially oriented individuals concerned more with helping people than in working with “things.” Those leaving their fields expected to earn less after graduate school. Among those remaining in NSME, Black respondents expected to earn the most and White respondents expected to earn the least. The expected earnings of women were lower than those of men. We speculated that a negative stereotypic image of science and engineering might prevail, not only in our society at large, but even among students of science and engineering. Some students for whom it is important to make a contribution to society, to interact with people, to have an attractive work environment, and to have variety in their work are leaving the sciences. These occupational characteristics were important to more women than men and to more minorities than Whites in our sample. The report suggests that science and engineering students do not always have a realistic view of the work options that will be open to them, and that they need to have a broader picture of the many varieties of work and work environments available in science and engineering. The report also suggests that more able students of both genders and all races might choose to continue in science if they knew more about its possibilities.

Professions and Powerlessness: Female Marginality in the Learned Occupations

This paper argues that the existing sociological literature on the learned professions and on scientific occupations has developed in ways that are now theoretically unproductive. One sympton of this dead-end is the failure of sociologists of the professions to include research on scientists in their discussions and vice versa. A second symptom is the lack of attention to the implications of the work of Jamous, Peloille. and Bourdieu in both the sociology of scientists and of professions. The third symptom of the malaise is the failure to generate sociologically plausible explanations for the marginalisation of female entrants to science and the professions. The paper argues that a novel direction for sociological argument can be derived by remedying the three symptoms simultaneously.

The relationship between occupational interests and personality variables in a psychiatric group

An abnormal group of psychotics and undifferentiated psychiatric patients displayed a common preference towards vocations associated with nutrition, design and social education and were more inclined to avoid technical and scientific occupations. The more introverted individuals expressed more interest for agriculturally-orientated occupations than extraverts, the latter group characterized by significantly greater interest towards commercially-related vocations involving a high degree of social involvement. Neurotics preferred both nutritional and agricultural occupational areas compared to their more stable counterparts. Furthermore, such high trait N Ss were less likely to select commercial trades. Persons with high scores on the P dimension were less inclined to choose administrative jobs than low P individuals. The more conformist P + individual (P + L +) exhibited a marked preference for creative, ‘gestalt’-oriented vocations. Low L scoring Ss expressed significantly more interest towards nutritional trades, and were likely to avoid commercial occupations.

Finding the jobs

With regard to the letter by T R and R Shelley in the October issue of Physics Bulletin (p407), we would like to make one or two points about the role and effectiveness of PER in recruiting in this area. PER currently places over 14000 people in jobs each year, spanning a complete range of professional, scientific, technical, managerial and executive occupations.

Industrialization and Skill Intensity: The Case of Massachusetts

The impact of industrialization on an economy's overall demands for skill cannot be deduced on purely a priori grounds, but depends, rather, on such variables as the character of the agricultural sector at the onset of industrialization, the particular industries in which manufacturing employment is concentrated, and the distribution of tertiary-sector employment between professional, technical, and scientific occupations, and such relatively low-skill occupations as domestic service. An examination of the evolution of the Massachusetts economy between 1820 and 1880 concludes that there was no major increase in the overall demands for skilled and educated labor during this period, at least before 1870.