Scientists who engage with society perform better academically

Authors: Jensen, Pablo; Rouquier, Jean-Baptiste; Kreimer, Pablo; Croissant, Yves

Source: Science and Public Policy, Volume 35, Number 7, August 2008 , pp. 527-541(15)

Publisher: Beech Tree Publishing

Buy & download fulltext article:

The full text is free.

View now:

PDF 381.8kb

Abstract:

Most scientific institutions acknowledge the importance of opening the so-called 'ivory tower' of academic research through popularization, industrial collaboration or teaching. However, little is known about the actual openness of scientific institutions and how their proclaimed priorities translate into concrete measures. This paper gives an idea of some actual practices by studying three key points: the proportion of researchers who are active in wider dissemination, the academic productivity of these scientists, and the institutional recognition of their wider dissemination activities in terms of their careers. We analyze extensive data about the academic production, career recognition and teaching or public/industrial outreach of several thousand of scientists, from many disciplines, from France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. We find that, contrary to what is often suggested, scientists active in wider dissemination are also more active academically. However, their dissemination activities have almost no impact (positive or negative) on their careers.

Articles that cite this article?

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3152/030234208X329130

Publication date: 2008-08-01

More about this publication?