Despite decades of research into the gender disparity in physics education and physics practice, the underrepresentation of women in physics persists today. In physics education research, this gender disparity has been constructed as problematic, and numerous approaches from a variety of perspectives have been taken to both research and address…

By means of their pivotal role in the outbreak of a variety of diseases, such as, recently, COVID-19, the molecular aspects of cell membrane function have gained considerable attention from researchers in recent decades. The resulting information explosion and the growing interdisciplinary character of cell biology seems, however, to not be…

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) is a world-class research center devoted to understanding fundamental questions about human health and disease. In addition to conducting multidisciplinary research of excellence, IRB Barcelona is committed to maintaining an open dialogue with the public about its work, fostering scientific…

This qualitative study aimed to explore what are pre-service elementary teachers' (N = 325) conceptualizations of scientific practices prior to their entry into the science teaching methods course through their drawn images and narratives of the scientists (male and female) and teacher as scientists. Data (drawings, narratives, and responses to…

Background: Previous research into children's perceptions of science shows that children like science but often hold stereotypical views of scientists and commonly do not see themselves with a career as a scientist. Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine if a carefully designed medium-term, teacher-led STEM intervention, 'Scientist of the…

To promote a justice-oriented approach to science education, we formed a research-practice partnership between middle school science teachers, their students, curriculum designers, learning scientists, and experts in social justice to co-design and test an environmental justice unit for middle school instruction. We examine teacher perspectives on…

Science outreach programs that enable real-time interactions between scientists and school-aged children are known to positively impact learning gains and students' perceptions of scientists. To expand K-12 outreach by scientists, it is important to build structured outreach programs which offer scientists well-defined opportunities, while…

This study examined the relationships between information-seeking behaviors (ISB) of Indonesian academic scientists and their individual and environmental factors in the open access era. A total of 335 scientists from Indonesia's three reputable universities in the field of natural sciences, environmental sciences, engineering, health sciences,…

In 2013, I was an Einstein Fellow with the U.S. Department of Energy and I was asked by a colleague, working in a senator's office, if I would join him in a meeting with a physicist to "translate" the science into something more understandable. That meeting turned out to be a wonderful opportunity I would never have otherwise had. During…

The basic science knowledge and attitudes toward science have been compared for (1) adult free-choice learners in an astronomy online course or MOOC, (2) undergraduate non-science majors, and (3) professional scientists from graduate student to professor level. The adult MOOC learners have a higher level of science knowledge than the college…

The study seeks to explore the extent to which students think pedagogical activities exemplifying various degrees of contextualization accurately reflect the work of scientists. Arguing for scaffolding across multiple degrees of contextualization, Clough (2006) reasoned that different contextualization plays different, but complimentary, roles in…

Scientists are ideally placed to inform, inspire and empower others in science, and thus contribute towards the formation of a scientifically informed society. Despite the increasing emphasis on scientists engaging in Public Engagement in Science, there is not enough structured spaces for scientists to practice. Social-distancing policies incurred…

Background: Many survey studies conducted in different countries have reported that students had stereotypical images of scientists, such as being male, old, bald, wearing eyeglasses, and working in laboratories. There are also intervention studies to introduce real scientists and change students' stereotypical image of scientists. The current…

Radiochemistry faces a well-documented training and recruitment crisis. Older radiochemists are retiring, and fewer young people are studying radiochemistry. In turn, this is leading to a shortage in newly qualified radiochemists, as well as a loss of historical knowledge (as know-how is often not passed-on). Here, we analyzed the relevance of the…

Exposure to inspirational and relatable role models is crucial towards fostering engagement of learners with scientific disciplines. However, the representation of scientists in popular culture is still far from being adequately gender- and race-inclusive. This study evaluated the gender balance and impact of scientific role models using a…