Understanding STEM Students’ and Instructors’ Perceptions of Science Communication: Implications for Training and Practice

The COVID-19 pandemic renewed attention to the crucial role of science communication in shaping public understanding of science. Yet little is known about how scientists, educators, and students conceive of science communication in everyday, non-crisis contexts. This exploratory study examines STEM students’ and instructors’ perceptions through survey data and qualitative analysis of open-ended responses. Findings reveal structural and conceptual dissonances in how participants understand science communication. Although participants agree that scientists should communicate science, they do not view them as the public’s primary source of scientific information, exposing a gap between the idealized role of scientists and their real-world influence. Participants’ descriptions of communication training primarily emphasized performance skills rather than a process with epistemic or theoretical dimensions, and they approach it through deficit-model assumptions that emphasize translation and simplification. Findings point to the need for science-communication education that integrates performative skills with reflective learning and conceptual grounding. Integrating these elements into science education may help align instruction with contemporary understandings of science communication and address the tensions revealed in this study.