Suchergebnisse

This study uses discourse analysis to explore online science communication experiences from the perspectives of 43 female opinion leaders. Women described their experiences in terms of their lifelong love for science and their ever-growing interest in communication. For them, a career in science communication is a conscious career choice rather than an "alternative" career path. Communicators performed various functions depending on the sensitivity of their topics and whether their communications are self-focused or audience-focused. Accordingly, four types of science communicators emerged from the data: Expressive/Escapist, Advocate/Normalizer, Edutainer, and Performer/Sharer. This diversity challenges societal stereotypes that reduce female experiences in science.

As nanotechnologies permeate our daily lives, it is increasingly important that we understand the ethical considerations of these innovations and to what extent scientists attend to these considerations. Guided by the theory of reasoned action and an extended version of that model that includes prior knowledge, sense of responsibility, and ethics involvement, we surveyed a sample of nanoscientists to explore their ethics information seeking and sharing. Path analyses support the theory of reasoned action as a useful framework. Findings suggest that making ethics information more available to scientists and redoubling social pressure to seek and share ethics information may help close the ethics-to-practice gap that exists today.