Engaging rural Australian communities in national science week helps increase visibility for women researchers

Margaret C Hardy; Mathilde R Desselle; Jennifer Allen; Dani J Barrington; Katherine T Andrews; Danielle Borg; Kaylene Butler; Rebecca Colvin; Tarni Louisa Cooper; Emily Furlong; Honor Hugo; Elecia Johnston; Gwenllian Iacona; Carly Kenkel; Caitlin Kuempel; Amie Khosla; Danette Langbecker; Jacki Liddle; Lynn Nazareth; Diana Lucia; Alison Peel; Vanessa Lussini; Megan Saunders; Meaghan Smith; Johana Tello Velasquez

doi:10.1098/rsos.170548

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Engaging rural Australian communities in national science week helps increase visibility for women researchers

Journal article

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Engaging rural Australian communities in national science week helps increase visibility for women researchers

Margaret C Hardy, Mathilde R Desselle, Jennifer Allen, Dani J Barrington, Katherine T Andrews, Danielle Borg, Kaylene Butler, Rebecca Colvin, Tarni Louisa Cooper, Emily Furlong, …

Royal Society Open Science, Vol.4(10), 170548

2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170548

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Abstract

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career advancement

career development

equity

Research

social media

During a week-long celebration of science, run under the federally supported National Science Week umbrella, the Catch a Rising Star: women in Queensland research (CaRS) programme flew scientists who identify as women to nine regional and remote communities in the Australian State of Queensland. The aim of the project was twofold: first, to bring science to remote and regional communities in a large, economically diverse state; and second, to determine whether media and public engagement provides career advancement opportunities for women scientists. This paper focuses on the latter goal. The data show: (i) a substantial majority (greater than 80%) of researchers thought the training and experience provided by the programme would help develop her career as a research scientist in the future, (ii) the majority (65%) thought the programme would help relate her research to end users, industry partners or stakeholders in the future, and (iii) analytics can help create a compelling narrative around engagement metrics and help to quantify influence. During the week-long project, scientists reached 600 000 impressions on one social media platform (Twitter) using a program hashtag. The breadth and depth of the project outcomes indicate funding bodies and employers could use similar data as an informative source of metrics to support hiring and promotion decisions. Although this project focused on researchers who identify as women, the lessons learned are applicable to researchers representing a diverse range of backgrounds. Future surveys will help determine whether the CaRS programme provided long-term career advantages to participating scientists and communities. © 2017 The Authors.

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Title: Engaging rural Australian communities in national science week helps increase visibility for women researchers
Authors: Margaret C Hardy (Author) - The University of Queensland
Mathilde R Desselle (Author) - University of Queensland
Jennifer Allen (Author) - University of Queensland
Dani J Barrington (Author) - University of Queensland
Katherine T Andrews (Author) - Griffith University
Danielle Borg (Author) - University of Queensland
Kaylene Butler (Author) - University of Queensland
Rebecca Colvin (Author) - University of Queensland
Tarni Louisa Cooper (Author) - University of Queensland
Emily Furlong (Author) - University of Queensland
Honor Hugo (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
Elecia Johnston (Author) - James Cook University
Gwenllian Iacona (Author) - University of Queensland
Carly Kenkel (Author) - Australian Institute of Marine Science
Caitlin Kuempel (Author) - University of Queensland
Amie Khosla (Author) - University of Queensland
Danette Langbecker (Author) - University of Queensland
Jacki Liddle (Author) - University of Queensland
Lynn Nazareth (Author) - Griffith University
Diana Lucia (Author) - University of Queensland
Alison Peel (Author) - Griffith University
Vanessa Lussini (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
Megan Saunders (Author) - University of Queensland
Meaghan Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Johana Tello Velasquez (Author) - Griffith University
Publication details: Royal Society Open Science, Vol.4(10), 170548; 10
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (R S C) Publications
Date published: 2017
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170548
ISSN: 2054-5703
Copyright note: Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451243302621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Communication

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