3. The BSA’s 10-year strategy
Our vision is a future where
science is more relevant,
representative and connected to
society
4. Is science representative of UK
society?
https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=d7899dce-22d5-4880-bbcf-
669c0c35bda6
5. Equity in the STEM workforce
https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=3d51130a-458b-4363-9b2b-
d197afc8382a
6. Why do we want science to be more
representative of society?
1. Social justice
https://warwick.
ac.uk/fac/soc/ie
r/ngrf/stem/basi
cs/awareness/
5.where-the-
money-is1.pdf
7. 1. Social justice
2. Research quality
Why do we want science to be more
representative of society?
21. 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Universities Government Private sector
% of people who said they trusted scientists who
worked in these sectors
https://assets.publishi
ng.service.gov.uk/gov
ernment/uploads/syst
em/uploads/attachme
nt_data/file/905466/p
ublic-attitudes-to-
science-2019.pdf
Trust in science
36. Grants up to £25,000 or around
£90,000 in:
- the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland;
- Hull;
- North West Northern Ireland; and
- Oldham.
We help communities tackle the
problems that matter to them by
connecting them with research
professionals so they
can work together to bring their ideas
to life and both build new skills and
Want to delve into what it means to be ‘relevant’, ‘representative’ and ‘connected’
Complicated Qu – what counts as ‘science’ sector, should the ref. population be whole UK or cities/working age/etc?
If just look at disability, gender and race, see considerable under-representation of minority groups.
From Abi: My only comment would be that on slide 4, (where it mentions white women vs ethnic minority women) would be to emphasise that these figures are proportional and there are still a lot less racially minoritised women in STEM than White women – as I think there has been some confusion around this when external people haven’t quite grasped that its proportional. Though this might be more of a note for your presentation than your slides!
Our work w/ APPG – consistent data collection/sharing make it difficult to understand the situation in more depth. But evidence submitted to inquiry suggests still lack of consensus on what works – and pandemic made it worse
This data is quite old, hard to find up to date data for UK but general pattern persists
2 reasons
Each of us as individuals faces decisions on science-based topics e.g. what we eat, how we travel, where we live, how we bring up kids
Many of our most pressing challenges are science ones.
Those of us in sci sector know it’s relevant. But often, it doesn’t feel relevant
Combination of media & own experiences
Children get the memo. Image is Google’s No.1 ‘children’s drawings of scientists’ 9 July 2018. Based on social scientist David Chambers’ ‘draw a scientist’ test.
Originally done in 1983 – fewer than 1% of children drew a female scientist. By 2016, 28% of children drew a female scientists.
These people are not like ‘us’; they don’t share our values, they wouldn’t make the same decisions as we would
Not just funny…evidence shows stereotypes affect kids’ choices about whether to study science.
ASPIRES killer slide
Asked public about their own personal relationship to science
PAS data: only 1/5 ppl have strong relationship w/ sci. Trust in science shows an interesting pattern – in general people say they trust scientists. Levels of trust vary depending on where the scientists work – around 90% of the people who responded to the PAS survey said they trust university scientists, and this figures drops to 75% for government scientists and 57% for private sector scientists. Despite the differences, overall, those are very high figures compared to other professions.
Trust in science is rather fragile. This figure from PAS shows that around half the population believe that rules will not stop scientists doing what they want behind closed doors. Around a third of those surveyed believe the speed of dev means… and scientists adjust their….
Nearly half the PAS respondents said scientists are ‘secretive’ and 1 in 10 said they are “unethical” and “dishonest”.
More recent data from surveys carried out during the pandemic by Ipsos Mori shows that the pandemic has not greatly changed the pattern of trust in scientists – the pandemic hasn’t reduced trust but hasn’t bolstered it either.
ASPIRES killer slide
ASPIRES killer slide
Will include some case studies from the BSA’s portfolio
Let’s start with representative & challenging stereotypes
Resist the temptation to use science paraphernalia, like lab coats, if it’s not actually part of your discipline.
Be yourself. Showcase the rounded human you are, not just the objective science persona you put on show.
Show off your team – the junior researchers, the technicians, the students, your mum, everyone.
Provide a platform for scientists from under-represented groups.
If you’re going into a school, consider using CREST to structure the activity. Doesn’t need to be your area, bring your research skills
Aims to build science engagement capacity
Moves to a new UK city/uni every year
Sometimes there is an assumption that ‘talking at’ is the only model.
Build links w/ communities; seek to be useful rather than to broadcast.
Value knowledge gained outside partnerships.
Share power
Grants in Round One…We want to promote diversity and inclusion by supporting great, innovative ideas that focus on improving mental wellbeing - particularly in rural or minority ethnic communities or amongst young, marginalised or socioeconomically disadvantaged people who have been overlooked in the past.
Note the shift in language here – focusing on helping communities tackle the problems that they have identified. Piloting several innovations to address the traditional power imbalance e.g. funding decisions made locally by panels including community representatives
Cluster of programmes dev’d in organic way over ~6 years.
Intentional escalator
Grants linked to BSW/BSF – clear purpose, giving permission, inclusion
We can’t do it alone. Our research sector partners are key. Join us