The system will be going down for regular maintenance. Please contact the library if you wish to upload documents.
HOW CAN ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT BY RESEARCH SCIENTISTS IN IRELAND? UNDERSTANDING THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT BEHAVIOURS AND PERCEPTIONS OF AGRI-FOOD RESEARCHERS
Author
Caffrey, MáireDate
2022-11-27
Metadata
Show full item recordStatistics
Display Item StatisticsAbstract
Science communication scholars and Research Performing Organizations advocate public engagement (PE) by scientists. EU and Irish research funders see PE as essential to deliver the full benefits of the outputs of funded research for society. PE should be a dialogue between science and society, building trust in science. Scientists are required to participate in public engagement actions. To support and encourage this, it is necessary to characterize the PE behaviors, motivations, and perceptions of scientists. Prior studies identified motivations for, and barriers to, public engagement, and found the level and type of activity is varied. There is evidence of influences from gender, career-status, age, and discipline, but it is not conclusive. There has been little study of scientists’ perceptions of PE in Ireland. To address the knowledge gap, this study surveyed Agri-food researchers in Ireland. The survey gathered data about their participation in PE, their motivations, perceived barriers, their future PE intentions, and identified training and supports needed. The data was analyzed to establish any influences of gender, career-status, age, or discipline. The aim was to establish how organizations can support, encourage, and build public engagement. These scientists have a high level of participation in Public Engagement, with high levels of largely altruistic motivations. However, they are time-poor, and unhappy with the current situation regarding institutional support. They would like PE to be recognized in career progression processes. They need relevant training. Gender, career-status, age, and discipline all influence public engagement behaviors. There is a pronounced gender effect relating to engagement with children. Senior scientists interact more with the media. Agricultural scientists are more motivated to involve the public in their research. Research organizations must recognize and value public engagement in their career assessment processes, provide training and supply supports to encourage more participation and deeper engagementCollections
The following license files are associated with this item:
- Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International