An exploration of early career agricultural and natural resource scientists’ perceptions of social responsibility

ABSTRACT

Scientists’ social responsibilities can include ethical research conduct, transparent public communication, and accountability to society to develop solutions. Scientists describe mounting pressure to advocate for their work amidst political, financial, religious, misinformation, lack of public trust, and other influences. The purpose of this study was to explore early career agricultural and natural resources (ANR) scientists’ (n = 35) perceptions of social responsibility as well as the impact of a mini documentary about ecosystem research in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) on their potential social responsibility behaviors. Data collection included qualitative watch party transcripts and quantitative post-retrospective surveys. Research questions focused on ANR graduate students' perceived ideal qualities of a socially responsible scientist, actions scientists should take to promote and advocate their research, and impacts of the mini documentary. It appeared the documentary and watch party reached the intended goal of prompting participants to consider their social responsibilities. Results indicated participants: (a) believed scientists should be open-minded (personal quality), validate results (research ethics), and listen to stakeholders (communication), (b) partner with communication experts and publish in open access journals, (c) provide leadership and speak out for a cause, and (d) consider societal impacts of research and mitigate bias.

KEYWORDS:

• Social responsibility
• ethics
• advocacy
• trust
• transparency
• soil
• water
• conservation
• early career
• scientists

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science [grant number EAR-1849458].