Science's Social Effects

Issues in Science and Technology, Spring 2007 by Frodeman, Robert, Holbrook, J Britt

We need to explore the possibility of a new ideal of "impure" science, in which scientists and engineers both educate and learn from others about the relation between science and society.

In 2001, the National Science Foundation (NSF) told scientists that if their grant proposals failed to address the connection between their research and its broader effects on society, the proposals would be returned without review. The response was a resounding "Huh?"

It's time we faced facts. Scientists and federal funding agencies have failed to respond adequately to a reasonable demand from Congress and the public. The demand: Researchers and their tax-supported underwriters must take a comprehensive look at the broader implications of their science in making decisions about what research to support.

There are exceptions, but scientists and engineers generally have had a difficult time meeting this merit review criterion. Yes, the quantity of responses to what is called the "broader impacts criterion" has risen steadily. But the quality of those responses remains a persistent problem. In order to improve the quality, we need a more interdisciplinary approach to generating and reviewing grant proposals.

In theory, it might be reasonable to think this problem could be addressed by teaching scientists and engineers how to assess the broader effects of their research. In practice, however, such attempts have led to the widespread view that intellectual merit is the primary and scientific criterion, and that broader impacts is a secondary and minor "education" criterion. Too often, the responsibility for satisfying the broader impacts criterion has been taken over by education and public outreach (EPO) professionals. They are hired to facilitate education activities for scientists, who are trained chiefly in science, not in education.

This approach allows scientists to conduct their research on their own while the EPO professionals take care of education and outreach. But it reinforces the idea that research in science and engineering is separate from education in science and engineering; an idea that runs counter to one of the main motivations behind the broader impacts criterion, which is that scientific research and education can and should be integrated.

To our knowledge, all NSF-sponsored workshops in 2005 and 2006 that offered advice to scientists on how to address the broader impacts criterion focused on broader effects only in terms of education and outreach. The danger inherent in this approach is that education and outreach are liable to emphasize a triumphalist view, highlighting only the striking advances of science and technology. This approach does not reflect on the larger moral, political, and policy implications of the advance of scientific knowledge and technological capabilities. Granted, education and public outreach are important elements of the broader impacts criterion. But without equal consideration of the ethical, political, and cultural elements of science, the focus on education and outreach threatens not only to absolve scientists and engineers of the responsibility to integrate their research and education activities, but also to turn the broader impacts criterion into an advertisement for science and technology.

One can hardly blame EPO professionals for marketing themselves as experts who can help with issues of broader effects. Unfortunately, however, EPO professionals have now come to be viewed as the group uniquely qualified to help scientists confused about how to satisfy the broader impacts criterion. EPO activities focus on issues such as expanding the participation of underrepresented groups (for example, by facilitating campus visits and presentations at institutions that serve those groups), enhancing research and education infrastructure (for example, by contributing to the development of a digital library), disseminating research more widely (for example, by developing a partnership with a museum or a science and nature center to develop an exhibit), and benefiting society (for example, by interpreting the results of specialized scientific research in formats understandable for nonscientists).

It is simply a misinterpretation of the broader impacts criterion to label it the education criterion. It would make more sense to place science in its larger societal context. Take, as just one example, the goal of increasing the participation of underrepresented groups. That goal is not fulfilled solely by giving presentations at minority-serving institutions or by including a woman or minority group member on the research team. It should also involve giving some thought to why diversity is important to scientific research (for example, by exploring Philip Kitcher's ideal of well-ordered science or David Guston's calls for the democratization of science). The danger is that without such reflection the goal of increasing minority representation will simply appear as another case of identity politics.