Bold ideas and critical thoughts on science.
Do you dare? What female scientists expect when communicating

Do you dare? What female scientists expect when communicating

Scientists are increasingly expected to engage with the public. At the same time, they face increasing hostility when they speak out. Female scientists, as a more frequent target of sexist hostility, fear being attacked and enjoy speaking out less than their male counterparts. The question arises: Is science communication really feasible for everyone in the current hostile environment? This short analysis focuses on female scientists as a subgroup of a large survey sample and how their assessment of public engagement differs from that of their male counterparts.

What happens to science when it communicates?

What happens to science when it communicates?

In August 2023 Benedikt Fecher conducted an interview with Clemens Blümel from the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) on the topic of ‘what happens when science opens up and communicates’ and the emerging challenges for future scientific communication.

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From climate change to international conflicts and global pandemics,  scientific knowledge is the key to tackling central societal challenges in the knowledge society of the 21st century. Never before have researchers been so public: They advise politicians, appear on television shows, and argue with conspiracy theorists online. However, this publicity also makes them vulnerable to attacks and harassment. In a non-representative Nature survey from 2021 among researchers who have published on COVID-19, 15 % declare that they received death threats afterwards. On the one hand it appears that scientific knowledge is crucial when solving the problems of our time. On the other hand, public engagement threatens the epistemic authority of researchers. In recent years, we have witnessed a lively discourse on how to reach “the public” and what it does to society when it follows science. But what happens to science when it communicates?

In this special issue, we turn the tables, take a reflexive perspective and focus on the conditions for and effects of science communication on the research system. Submissions may relate to but are not limited to the following topics:

  • Attacks on researchers, skepticism, and hostility towards science
  • Organizational conditions and institutional policies for science communication and public engagement
  • Positive and negative effects of societal impact assessment on scholarly practice
  • Epistemic authority and blurring of boundaries 

Contribute

You are more than welcome to contribute to this Special Issue. Just drop us a line with your idea.
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In light of the current war in the Ukraine we have decided to open a telegram group and a telegram bot which will provide information on support for researchers and students from Ukraine.
We will open the group so that information can be exchanged, knowledge shared and advice given. In the upcoming weeks we will post recommendations, initiatives, share interviews and experiences and try to provide as much information as possible that could be useful in any way. Our approach is a collaborative, bottom-up one – so feel free to contribute with relevant information.

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