Gordon GAUCHAT, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, United States
Michel DUBOIS, Gemass, unité CNRS/ Sorbonne Université, France
Daniel BOY, Sciences Po Paris, France
Michael ARENTOFT, Commission Européenne, Belgium
In this symposium, we will explore the history and current significance of nationwide studies of attitudes to science in an international perspective. France [Universite de Lorraine] has just launched the latest edition in a long line of eight national surveys examining the representation and the place of science in the Nation’s imagination; this series is going back to 1972. Similarly, longer series of data exist in the US (1980s), in the UK (1988) and across EU-15 countries (1992). This availability of time-series data on attitudes to science offers new opportunities to examine the image of, attitudes towards and trust in science in an historical perspective. The symposium will address the following questions:
1) what was the original context and motivation for asking ‘how the nation thinks about science’?
2) why would one want to continue to ask this question?
3) what are key observations that emerge when considering attitudes to science in the long-run?
4) what is the significance of mapping the public understanding of science post-Covid19.
The speakers will address any of these questions based on their long experience with working on this topic.