Does Science Need a Facelift?

So, I wrote this essay a couple of years ago. I can’t remember why I wrote it, but it’s message is as important now as it was then. I found it as I was rooting through my files and thinking about the Seed Magazine science writing contest, which asks the question, “What is scientific literacy?” I don’t know whether I’ll enter the contest, but I like this essay and think that more people should start thinking about not just what scientific literacy means in this day and age, but also how we can sell science to the public. Because we haven’t been doing a good job, and something’s got to change.

The essay after the jump…

Elderly male, white lab coat, glasses, crazy hair, hunched over a lab bench, and muttering something about oncotic pressure… the prototypical scientist, right? It’s how scientists have been portrayed by the media for years. And, don’t think all those years of movie and television characters haven’t had an effect on the way that we all think of science and scientists.

Whether or not we want to admit it, scientists and the work they do have gotten a bad rap. A recent survey of British youngsters reported that while the majority of children acknowledge that scientists are smart people who do creative, important work, they don’t think scientists are “normal” or “attractive.” In fact, many children thought that scientists were “brainy people, not like them.”

One response to the survey question of why they would not like to be a scientist was “because you would constantly be depressed and tired and not have time for family”. Another reason given was “because they all wear big glasses and white coats and I am female”. A separate survey found that 51% of students thought science lessons were dull, difficult, or confusing. These views are likely contributing to observed reductions in the numbers of students taking science courses in the UK.

Obviously, this study highlights a problem in the UK, but similar trends can be seen right here in the US of A. According to the NSF’s Science and Engineering Indicators, “on the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, which measure students’ ability to apply scientific and mathematical concepts and skills, U.S. 15-year-olds scored below the international average.” And, while performance on national assessments of mathematics has improved, performance in science has not.

The technical skills and knowledge demanded in the world of science research and development are increasing rapidly. The Asian nations are pouring more and more resources into their research sectors, and outrank our students in tests of scientific literacy. So far, our country has managed very well in the global economy. We are consistently leaders in research and development spending and in science and engineering research publishing. However, our students are not keeping up. The possibility of a future workforce unprepared to face the demands of and compete on the global scale is real and should frighten us into action.

So, how do we combat a scientifically illiterate youth with a dysfunctional perception of science? Maybe we should take a lesson from the Asian counties that are proving to be such fierce competitors and valuable collaborators in the scientific arena. We need to turn our scientists into rock stars. Joshua Roebke wrote in the latest issue of Seed magazine that in Korea, Nobel Prize winners are treated like baseball hall of famers. The Chinese tabloids discuss the romps of their Nobelists, and the taikonauts are widely celebrated. A Japanese state policy to win 30 Nobel prizes in 50 years has young boys clamoring to be research scientists. Who wouldn’t want to be a scientist in a country where scientists are treated like stars?

Right now we have a mismatch between the public perception of science and science as it really is that is a real threat to the future of science in this country. Television media created the stodgy, male scientist of old, and now we need to learn how to use it to recreate the scientist for the future. And, unfortunately, to compete with Brittany and Jessica, scientists will need to be perceived by youth as icons of cool in order to turn their MTV- generation attention spans and interests toward science.

Science doesn’t need bikini-clad women to sell itself with sex appeal. But, it does need real, sexy scientists to come forward. The challenge of selling science to a media soaked public demands interesting, intelligent, humorous men and women tell the many stories of science. Additionally, those stories could do with a renaissance of sorts in order to appeal to the younger generation. Old icons like David Attenborough, while they relay important information, are no longer engaging to the high-schoolers who science needs to attract.

There have been several steps in the right direction already in which the media plays an ever expanding role in promoting science. In the UK, at the Cheltenham Science Festival, an organization called FameLab is running a contest similar to American Idol that will find the next “face of science.” The British newspaper, The Telegraph, organizes a science meets the media event each year that promotes communication between the two fields. In the US, Seed, a new magazine devoted to science and culture, uses novel presentation methods to get information across, and also sponsors events with scientists as the guests of honor. The television program called CSI is doing wonders for promoting forensic science. And, at locations around the country and in the UK, people of any age can attend Science Cafes (also known as Café Scientifique) where scientists interact with the public directly rather than standing behind a soapbox and lecturing.

Innovative presentation of science combined with the use of modern technologies like television and the internet will go a long way toward changing the way science is perceived. Is it possible that science will fall prey to the inanities of modern TV programming, and the sexification will go too far? Of course, that remains a possibility. However, the old view of science as something to revere needs to change. Obviously, something is no longer working with the way science does business. Science’s Ivory tower reputation is out of date. So, maybe it is time that science finds itself a good PR agent, gets a facelift, and makes friends with the media.

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