Understanding Scientists’ Willingness to Engage

By J. Besley, Anthony Dudo, Shupei Yuan, Frank R. Lawrence. Science communication, 2018

165 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A set of parallel surveys of scientists from multiple scientific societies finds that the most consistent predictors of willingness to take part in engagement activities with the public are a belief that she or he will enjoy the experience (attitude), make a difference through engagement (response efficacy), and has the time to engage. Age, sex, scientific field, what a scientist thinks about the public, perceived personal engagement skill (self-efficacy), and what a scientist thinks about her or his colleagues (normative beliefs) are inconsistent predictors. Research may be needed to find how to shape scientists’ engagement views in ways that are both effective and acceptable.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c8628240762f1fc6198419ce866ff20122765933