Academics’ Attitudes toward Engaging in Public Discussions – Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Engagement Conditions

Vitus Püttmann, Jens Ruhose and Stephan Thomsen

No 9258, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Academics are increasingly expected to engage in public discussions. We study how engagement conditions affect academics’ engagement attitudes via a survey experiment among 4,091 tenured professors in Germany. Consistent with the crowding-out of intrinsic motivation, we find lesspositive attitudes when emphasizing public authorities’ demands and public expectations regarding 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 absent when emphasizing public support for academics’ engagement. We conclude that considering individual incentive structures and safeguarding against repercussions may promote academics’ engagement.

Keywords: science communication; public engagement; professor; survey experiment; intrinsic motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-exp and nep-isf
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Related works:
Journal Article: Academics’ Attitudes Toward Engaging in Public Discussions: Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Engagement Conditions (2023)
Working Paper: Academics' Attitudes toward Engaging in Public Discussions - Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Engagement Conditions (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9258

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