I have very good friends, colleagues and connections who spent a lot of time to provide thoughtful comments. I am grateful. Their feedback relates to these questions:
- Is this the right problem to engage with?
- What other problems are associated with the perception of science and scientists
Is this the right problem?
So, am I tackling the right problem? My friends and colleagues have brought two aspects of this question to my attention. One is that there may be more pressing problems than the need to reach students who are not yet interested in the sciences. In the short term, particularly regarding teachers, I agree.
Another colleague and friend questioned why I wanted high school students to trust scientists. He wanted to know and whether scientists should be trusted. This person, whom I highly respect, brought up some good points about trust and communication from scientists.
Teachers and their concerns
I attended an in-person National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) meeting last spring. That meeting focused on the framework developed in part by NASEM and the associated Next Generation Science Standards. The working group I participated in quickly identified their main concern as teacher attrition. The numbers are staggering. I did’t need to spend much time on my LinkedIn feed to see teachers fleeing the classroom for other opportunities. Above and beyond the pandemic, many aspects of public education in the U.S. make teaching an incredibly stressful profession. My hat’s off to all teachers.
Should I just be working on teacher attrition, instead of focusing on engaging students who do not show interest or aptitude? I don’t think so, at least not more explicitly than I am already considering. To some extent, supporting teachers in their work is part of what my Academy idea is all about (see the Train the Trainers post of August 29). In addition, the upcoming decisions clearinghouse should improve visibility of decisions relevant to the teacher attrition concerns. Beyond that, many others are the real experts on schools and teacher attrition.
Trusting scientists
My newsletter cites lack of trust in science and scientists as a motivator for wanting to reach more students. A friend gave feedback expressing the idea that scientists should not be automatically trusted just because they are scientists. I completely agree. In fact, I think scientists hold an additional burden of integrity. I think so because too little of the population seems to understand much of the science surrounding current issues.
However, I think political agendas and the power of social media have inflamed attacks on scientists. People make these attacks not because of specific errors or examples of mal intent, but just to sow division and add negativity without improving the science. Science works by small steps to improve existing models. Simply denigrating individuals, or whole fields, without sufficient, peer-reviewed evidence, does not accomplish any improvement.
Do scientists deserve a free pass—no. Should the general public have sufficient ability and understanding to see through the negative noise? Should all citizens have enough regard for science and scientists to make the effort—yes. And should scientists and scientific organizations work harder to communicate with non-scientists? Also, yes.
Other problems associated with the perception of science and scientists
Two other issues that others mentioned are the hidden nature of science and scientists in our everyday lives and the need for more girls and young women interested in science and STEM/STEAM careers.
Hidden science
Friends mentioned the hidden nature of science in our everyday lives. They also cited the need to bring to students the understanding that science does matter to their everyday lives. A fine example of this is the laboratory work required, every single day, to ensure food and drug safety, purity, and efficacy. When people buy bottled drinks, or medication at the pharmacy, they rarely think of lab chemists. Those chemists ensured the proper ingredients in the drink and the exact right amount of medication going into each pill. So much that we take for granted every day is safe and works because of science. One friend suggested that another effort could be an ad campaign making these connections for people. It doesn’t tie directly to K-12 education, but is education of a sort. I am keeping an open mind about this idea. What do you think?
Girls and women in STEM
Several friends and colleagues mentioned the need to get more girls and young women into STEM/STEAM careers. I couldn’t agree more. I believe that getting more students, anywhere on the gender spectrum, a better science education will go part of the way to getting more girls and women into STEM fields. However, I think that there are institutional and societal barriers that particularly affect retention of women in science. Although lowering those barriers is important, beyond the educational ones, they are not a focus of my efforts at this time.
