No abstract

Effective engagement with diverse stakeholders, combating misinformation and encouraging wider participation in science is core to science communication practice, and comprises much of the current focus of research in the discipline. Global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have clearly shown that social inequalities also manifest within communication structures, including those of science communication. Practices which are inclusive of diverse audiences are key if we wish to engage diverse audiences in finding solutions to societal issues. Yet there is little available evidence to show which diverse, marginalised and/or excluded groups are being engaged within science communication, and via what means. This paper develops a systematic map of academic literature spanning 40 years to provide a preliminary evidence base of how diversity and inclusion within science communication research and practice is conceived and implemented. Although the discipline has shown an increased focus within the last 5 years, science communication must evolve further in order to develop a robust evidence base for understanding what constitutes inclusive science communication in both theory and practice.

Protest placards are an important part of School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) protest culture and illustrate how protesters view, understand and share their environmental concerns. Many of the placards use humor to convey the messages of their creators. Bringing together science communication and humor studies, this paper examines the communicative functions of humor in Australian SS4C posters by asking to what extent protest signs can be understood as a vehicle of science communication. The paper reveals how humorous protest placards become the means of grassroots creativity, exploring bottom-up science communication in an ambiguous, but accessible and enjoyable form.

Stereotypical representations about what scientists do, look like, and how they behave are cognized in early childhood and refined throughout life, through direct or indirect contact with the STEM communication climate, whether it be direct interactions with scientists, science education, communique, or entertainment. Popular media (TV) plays an important role in influencing our ideas of science by constructing images of social science reality. What has rarely been discussed in these contexts is what kind of scientific stereotypes are reinforced or challenged in popular TV shows for young audiences, particularly regarding female scientists. Using qualitative textual analysis, this paper examines how female scientists are portrayed through humor (and what kind of humor) in two popular animated entertainment series for children—Spongebob Squarepants and Adventure Time—and how their portrayal reinforces or challenges gender stereotypes in cultural representations of science. The analysis revealed that science was portrayed as humorously framed non-science, often represented by exaggerated ever-computing datasets on larger-than-life computer screens that would rival NASA. However, the representation of the female scientists in these animated TV comedies was steeped in archaic stereotypes that, surprisingly, were barely associated with humor: it was the science, not the female scientist per se, that was comic. Interpreting these findings in light of science communication research, gender studies, popular entertainment studies and humor studies, this article adds new perspectives to our understanding of humor in science narratives and the public imagination, and provides new insights for the study of the intangible aspects of science in culture.