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 • Wissenschaft

Feeling Left Out: Underserved Audiences in Science Communication

Im Projekt “Wissenschaft für alle” schauen meine Kolleg*innen und ich uns an, wen Wissenschaftskommunikation eigentlich nicht erreicht, was die Ursachen dafür sind und welche mögliche Lösungen es gibt. Ganz frisch ist eine erste Auswertung unserer Daten in der Zeitschrift Media and Communication erschienen.

Logo des Projekts "Wissenschaft für alle"

Logo des Projekts "Wissenschaft für alle"

In dem englischsprachigen Beitrag gehen wir der Frage nach, welche Faktoren Menschen von Wissenschaftskommunikation ausschließen und ob diese Faktoren rein materiell sind – wie bspw. finanzielle Hürden – oder auch emotional. Datengrundlage sind Interviews und Fokusgruppen, die wir mit drei typischerweise von Wissenschaftskommunikation nicht erreichten Gruppen geführt haben.

Das Paper ist Open Access, steht unter einer Creative Commons Lizenz (CC-BY-4.0) und kann weiter unten heruntergeladen werden.

Abstract

Science communication only reaches certain segments of society. Various underserved audiences are detached from it and feel left out, which is a challenge for democratic societies that build on informed participation in deliberative processes. While only recently researchers and practitioners have addressed the question on the detailed composition of the not reached groups, even less is known about the emotional impact on underserved audiences: feelings and emotions can play an important role in how science communication is received, and “feeling left out” can be an important aspect of exclusion.

In this exploratory study, we provide insights from interviews and focus groups with three different underserved audiences in Germany. We found that on the one hand, material exclusion factors such as available infrastructure or financial means as well as specifically attributable factors such as language skills, are influencing the audience composition of science communication. On the other hand, emotional exclusion factors such as fear, habitual distance, and self- as well as outside-perception also play an important role. Therefore, simply addressing material aspects can only be part of establishing more inclusive science communication practices. Rather, being aware of emotions and feelings can serve as a point of leverage for science communication in reaching out to underserved audiences.

Humm, C., Schrögel, P., & Leßmöllmann. (2020). Feeling left out: Underserved audiences in science communication. Media and Communication, 8(1), 164–176. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i1.2480

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Humm, C., Schrögel, P., & Leßmöllmann. (2020). Feeling left out: Underserved audiences in science communication. Media and Communication, 8(1), 164–176. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i1.2480