Today, most scientific institutions acknowledge the importance of opening the so-called "ivory tower" of academic research through popularization, industrial innovation or teaching. However, little is known about the actual openness of scientific institutions and how their proclaimed priorities translate into concrete measures. This paper helps getting an idea on the actual practices by studying three key points: the proportion of researchers who are active in dissemination, the academic productivity of these active scientists, and the institutional recognition of their activity in terms of careers. This paper answers these questions by analyzing extensive data about the academic production, career recognition and teaching or public/industrial outreach of several thousand CNRS scientists from many disciplines. We find that, contrary to what is often suggested, scientists active in dissemination are also more active academically. However, their dissemination activities have almost no impact (positive or negative) on their career.
This paper presents the findings of a survey on popularization activities by 1700 scientists in Argentina. The tool used for this research was a questionnaire containing 21 questions on discipline, age, status in hierarchy, intensity of popularization activity, motives, difficulties and opinions on public issues and science policy. Our analysis of the data shows that patterns of public popularization in Argentina do not substantially differ from those found in two advanced countries, namely France and the United Kingdom. This situation contrasts with the strong differences found in research practices in “central” and “peripheral” countries.
The paper deals with the emergence and development the STS field in Latin America, from the sixties on. After an introductory section containing some considerations on the maturation of and approaches to STS in the region, the paper delves into cognitive, institutional, political and social dimensions of the development of this field. It gives then some background, mentioning policies as drivers of knowledge generation, the institutionalization of social studies of science and technology, and STS training. An individual section deals with journals and congresses as spaces for interaction. A chronology of the STS field's development in Latin America is followed by a brief examination of the role of the STS field in contemporary Latin America. It is argued that researchers belonging to this community are in a good position to critically analyze the current relations between science and society, to assist decision-makers and help the public understand the implications of present-day technoscientific change, as well as to support the development of fairer, more equitable solutions to combat the challenges of today's changing world. It goes without saying that, far from having reached maturity, this is a space in a permanent state of construction.
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