http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2008/03/who_are_america.html
^^^
Who are America's science role models? (It's ugly, folks.)
I've been poring over data from a recent survey of 1,304 adult Americans as part of the Museum of Science and Industry's State of Science initiative. It's not a pretty picture.
First of all, when adults were asked who today's youth looked at for role models, 31 percent of adults named an entertainer, 19 percent an athlete, and 17 percent a parent. No scientists, which shouldn't surprise anyone. But then the survey pressed a little deeper, asking:
Based again on everything you have seen, read or heard, who would you say are the science role models for the youth of today in America?
Most comments were general (i.e. "Teachers," 9 percent, or "Astronauts," 5 percent). But there were a few individuals named in the total results for whites, blacks and Hispanics. They are:
Albert Einstein 6 percent
Bill Gates 6 percent
Al Gore 6 percent
Stephen Hawking 2 percent
Bill Nye the Science Guy 2 percent
Ben Franklin 1 percent
Thomas Edison 1 percent
Interesting demographic notes: 3 percent of blacks named George Washington Carver; 1 percent of blacks and Hispanics named Robert Jarvik; 1 percent of blacks named Alexander Graham Bell and Steve Jobs.
What does this tell us?
• If we can agree that Bill Gates and Bill Nye (who has a B.S. in mechanical engineering) are not scientists, then we can probably assume that about one-in-50 Americans can name a living scientist.
• Some 44 percent of people could not name a single science role model -- either providing a name or profession (such as astronaut).
• Television is a powerful medium. Only TV can explain the presence of Bill Nye and Robert Jarvik (who invented an artificial heart and appears prominently in Lipitor commercials.)
• Given that Hawking is British, approximately 0 percent of Americans would name a living American scientist as a role model for today's kids.
In addition to the above, there's one laugh-out-loud question in the survey. Here's the question, followed by the results for all respondents, and then broken down by two minority groups.
I'd like to ask you to rate your knowledge of a variety of subject areas. Using a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 representing "a very poor understanding" and 10 representing "a very good understanding" how would you rate your knowledge of the following subject areas?
Here we have a group of people -- the vast majority who cannot name a single working scientist in the world -- rating their knowledge of science equal to, or above sports, movies and celebrities.
Yeah, right.
I've been poring over data from a recent survey of 1,304 adult Americans as part of the Museum of Science and Industry's State of Science initiative. It's not a pretty picture.
First of all, when adults were asked who today's youth looked at for role models, 31 percent of adults named an entertainer, 19 percent an athlete, and 17 percent a parent. No scientists, which shouldn't surprise anyone. But then the survey pressed a little deeper, asking:
Based again on everything you have seen, read or heard, who would you say are the science role models for the youth of today in America?
Most comments were general (i.e. "Teachers," 9 percent, or "Astronauts," 5 percent). But there were a few individuals named in the total results for whites, blacks and Hispanics. They are:
Albert Einstein 6 percent
Bill Gates 6 percent
Al Gore 6 percent
Stephen Hawking 2 percent
Bill Nye the Science Guy 2 percent
Ben Franklin 1 percent
Thomas Edison 1 percent
Interesting demographic notes: 3 percent of blacks named George Washington Carver; 1 percent of blacks and Hispanics named Robert Jarvik; 1 percent of blacks named Alexander Graham Bell and Steve Jobs.
What does this tell us?
• If we can agree that Bill Gates and Bill Nye (who has a B.S. in mechanical engineering) are not scientists, then we can probably assume that about one-in-50 Americans can name a living scientist.
• Some 44 percent of people could not name a single science role model -- either providing a name or profession (such as astronaut).
• Television is a powerful medium. Only TV can explain the presence of Bill Nye and Robert Jarvik (who invented an artificial heart and appears prominently in Lipitor commercials.)
• Given that Hawking is British, approximately 0 percent of Americans would name a living American scientist as a role model for today's kids.
In addition to the above, there's one laugh-out-loud question in the survey. Here's the question, followed by the results for all respondents, and then broken down by two minority groups.
I'd like to ask you to rate your knowledge of a variety of subject areas. Using a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 representing "a very poor understanding" and 10 representing "a very good understanding" how would you rate your knowledge of the following subject areas?
Here we have a group of people -- the vast majority who cannot name a single working scientist in the world -- rating their knowledge of science equal to, or above sports, movies and celebrities.
Yeah, right.
