Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 765–788 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Research in Higher Education |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 5 Dec 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2023 |
Abstract
Growing demands and expectations on the side of policy makers and the public have changed the conditions for academics’ engagement in public discussions. At the same time, risks related to this engagement for the professional and even private lives of academics have become apparent. Conducting a survey experiment among 4091 tenured professors in Germany, we study how these conditions causally affect academics’ attitudes toward engaging. Consistent with the crowding-out of intrinsic motivation, we find less-positive attitudes when emphasizing demands for engagement by public authorities and public expectations toward science’s societal relevance. Effects are particularly strong among professors endorsing science–society relations. Moreover, effects are similar when highlighting risks associated with engagement, but more pronounced for females and younger professors. Emphasizing public support for academics’ engagement has no discernible effects. We conclude that considering individual incentive structures and safeguarding against negative repercussions may promote academics’ engagement and an adequate representation of the diversity of academics in the public.
Keywords
- Intrinsic motivation, Professor, Public engagement, Science communication, Survey experiment
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Education
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In: Research in Higher Education, Vol. 64, No. 5, 08.2023, p. 765–788.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Academics’ Attitudes Toward Engaging in Public Discussions
T2 - Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Engagement Conditions
AU - Püttmann, Vitus
AU - Ruhose, Jens
AU - Thomsen, Stephan L.
N1 - Funding Information: We thank the editor for the opportunity to revise and resubmit our paper and two anonymous reviewers for their very useful comments. We furthermore thank participants at the Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Hochschulforschung 2021, at the Verein für Socialpolitik Annual Conference 2021, at the Society for Research into Higher Education International Research Conference 2021, and at the Midwest Economics Association 2022 Annual Meetings, especially Elizabeth Moorhouse, for helpful comments. We also thank Katharina Stucke, who was involved in collecting the data on which this paper is based, as well as Lars Brausewetter, Huu Son Bach Dang, Lina Janischowsky, Verena Mlinaric, Celine Schoe and Regina Wunder for their research assistance. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur). The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the funding institution.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Growing demands and expectations on the side of policy makers and the public have changed the conditions for academics’ engagement in public discussions. At the same time, risks related to this engagement for the professional and even private lives of academics have become apparent. Conducting a survey experiment among 4091 tenured professors in Germany, we study how these conditions causally affect academics’ attitudes toward engaging. Consistent with the crowding-out of intrinsic motivation, we find less-positive attitudes when emphasizing demands for engagement by public authorities and public expectations toward science’s societal relevance. Effects are particularly strong among professors endorsing science–society relations. Moreover, effects are similar when highlighting risks associated with engagement, but more pronounced for females and younger professors. Emphasizing public support for academics’ engagement has no discernible effects. We conclude that considering individual incentive structures and safeguarding against negative repercussions may promote academics’ engagement and an adequate representation of the diversity of academics in the public.
AB - Growing demands and expectations on the side of policy makers and the public have changed the conditions for academics’ engagement in public discussions. At the same time, risks related to this engagement for the professional and even private lives of academics have become apparent. Conducting a survey experiment among 4091 tenured professors in Germany, we study how these conditions causally affect academics’ attitudes toward engaging. Consistent with the crowding-out of intrinsic motivation, we find less-positive attitudes when emphasizing demands for engagement by public authorities and public expectations toward science’s societal relevance. Effects are particularly strong among professors endorsing science–society relations. Moreover, effects are similar when highlighting risks associated with engagement, but more pronounced for females and younger professors. Emphasizing public support for academics’ engagement has no discernible effects. We conclude that considering individual incentive structures and safeguarding against negative repercussions may promote academics’ engagement and an adequate representation of the diversity of academics in the public.
KW - Intrinsic motivation
KW - Professor
KW - Public engagement
KW - Science communication
KW - Survey experiment
KW - Wissenschaftsforschung
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143312542&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11162-022-09725-4
DO - 10.1007/s11162-022-09725-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85143312542
VL - 64
SP - 765
EP - 788
JO - Research in Higher Education
JF - Research in Higher Education
SN - 0361-0365
IS - 5
ER -