Writing Arguments in STEM Student Resource

STEM Advocacy

Introduction to STEM Advocacy Approaches

STEM advocacy approaches are the different methods utilized to advocate for the value of STEM and the topics within STEM, such as journalism and education. The manner that researchers, students, and the media report on STEM topics is important because unethical reports and studies have a significant effect on how a STEM topic is perceived by the public. Students in STEM or reporting on STEM topics have a responsibility to advocate for STEM topics appropriately through avoiding biases and misinformation and utilizing proper academic language and ethical citation practices. Advocating for a STEM topic brings awareness to how the topic influences students, STEM community members, and the public. Educating students on the significance of legitimate STEM information and how this data is reported is crucial to the validity and perception of STEM.

STEM Journalism

STEM Education

Bias Influences STEM Advocacy

Bias is defined as the prejudice in favor for or against certain individuals or groups over others. This partiality can manifest in various forms, including gender, racial, socioeconomic, and cultural biases. In STEM advocacy, the presence of bias can influence the design and implementation of initiatives, affecting who benefits from educational programs, mentorship opportunities, and career advancement. The potential dangers of bias in STEM lie not only in perpetuating inequality but also in hindering innovation and limiting the full utilization of diverse perspectives and talents. Bias can lead to information being reported incorrectly or certain facts that do not support a personal, commercial, or political agenda being ignored.

One example of the dangers of bias is the use of Artificial intelligence (AI). AI is meant to be unbiased, however the algorithm gains knowledge from past responses on the internet and is programmed by workers who are inherently biased. Most of the time this bias can be acknowledged and worked around but in situations like evaluating an inmate's release with AI, problems can arise. Prisons in New York, Wisconsin, California, and Florida have been using an artificial intelligence called the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) to predict an inmate's likelihood to reoffend if they are released from prison. ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization, examined the use of COMPAS and discovered that the AI showed signs of discrimination when evaluating if an inmate should be released. “The violent recidivism analysis also showed that even when controlling for prior crimes, future recidivism, age, and gender, black defendants were 77 percent more likely to be assigned higher risk scores than white defendants” (Larson et al, NP). This biased AI caused inmates to not be released from prison even though there was no reason, other than the AI response, for them not to be released. This example reveals that bias is present in the justice system with the ability to significantly affect inmate’s lives. The biased AI used in prisons is a concrete example that has a direct connection to damaging individuals lives and reveals some of the damage bias can cause.

Bias occurs everyday and is nearly impossible to eliminate. However, utilizing facts and providing the readers the full story is a way for the author to avoid bias. Readers must also avoid confirmation bias which is favoring information that supports one's own beliefs and distrusting information that goes against what they believe in. Viewing all of the facts and forming an opinion based on the entire picture limits the possible bias and is the best way to prevent the further spread of biased information.

Types of Unconscious Bias

Diagram Explaining How AI Becomes Biased

Various Bias Types and Their Definitions

The Dangers of Misinformation

Flooded Home in Batabano, Cuba due to Hurricane Ian.

President Trump mocks Joe Biden for wearing a mask.

Another example of dangerous misinformation that circulated the internet was when Donald Trump said, in an interview with NBC, “just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85% of the people that wear masks catch it” (10:19). Trump was referring to a Tweet from the CDC which displayed that people who do and do not wear masks are both getting COVID. The Tweet did not say that masks are not working, but that people often take their masks off, for example to eat, and thus get exposed to the virus. However, the number was still used by anti-maskers to conclude that masks do not stop COVID. This reveals that even people as powerful and educated as the president can spread misinformation.

Misinformation within the reporting of STEM topics can come from biases, such as political bias, and alternative agendas that skew the approaches that an author uses in their writing. Misinformation and the strategies that authors use to discuss a STEM topic are crucial to the validity of science journalism, which influences the validity of the topic and public perception of the topic.

For example, FOX News often reports unethically on climate change, as their authors distort accredited information to match their agendas. In an article from FOX discussing climate change and Hurricane Ian, author Thomas Catenacci argues that there is “no correlation between warming temperatures and more hurricanes” (np), while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) uses scientific evidence to support the opposite: “[the] established fact [is] that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increased frequency and/or intensity of some weather and climate extremes since 1850” (Rao et al 42). The misinformation in this example is dangerous because FOX makes unsound claims on the basis of their political agenda and ignores the accredited information from the over 200 climate scientists. With the devastation caused by climate change, such as Hurricane Ian, proper documentation of information related to the event is crucial in protecting communities ravaged by climate change aggravated disasters and humanity as a whole. Climate change is an important topic that is relevant to the public sphere and the future of the planet. When a major media outlet spreads misinformation on climate change this is harmful to the future of solving this crucial issue facing the environment, and educating the public.

In advocating for a STEM topic, misinformation is dangerous and must be avoided to protect the validity of an argument. When approaching and advocating for a STEM topic, misinformation must be avoided to strengthen the soundness of the argument and findings. Data must be shared honestly and without the implementation of bias that creates misinformation within the writing.

Evaluating Sources For Misinformation

Exercise skepticism

Consider any new information with an amount of doubt. Ensure that sources support their claims with evidence. Compare information from multiple different sources.

Understand the current misinformation landscape

Reduce dependency on social media as a news source to help eliminate misinformation from your news stream. Social media platforms are a large source of news. However, they are under no obligation to tell the truth or report facts and often report misinformation.

Pay close attention

Pay attention, especially when reading about controversial, "hot button" topics. This is because misinformation is often present in reporting on controversial topics, thus, paying close attention when reading about them is crucial in identifying misinformation.

Investigate

Ask questions when reading: Was this content paid for by potentially biased sources? Are the author's claims supported by evidence? Are numbers presented within context?

Utilizing Proper Academic Language

Incorporating proper academic language is essential to the credibility of STEM advocacy. STEM advocacy relies on the ability to be able to convey a purpose of illustrating a detailed and educated report. Academic language should avoid 1st person pronouns such as "we" or "us". In addition, academic language should avoid the usage of phrasal words, idioms, metaphors as they can be perceived as informal and misinterpretation. Some examples of overused phrases include "On the other hand" or "At the end of the day", phrases as such are seen as rushed and dull. Proper and accurate citations should not include "According to..." as the citation becomes wordy and unnecessarily as the word citation page provides a detailed list. Rather than using passive voice, incorporate active voice. Academic language should include active verbs such as "exemplifies", "inhibits", and "compels". As STEM students academic language applies to all aspects of their careers, from research to advocating. STEM students should demonstrate proper academic language to ensure integrity and honesty.

Additional source for cliches: https://clichelist.net/

The Effect of Stem Advocacy Approaches in the Public Sphere

During the pandemic, political polarization was evident in the advocacy regarding COVID-19. Oftentimes, conservative politicians were quick to dismiss the severity of COVID, and spread misinformation. STEM advocacy is essential in all aspects of the public sphere including public interest. STEM advocacy potentially shapes public health as seen in the previous example regarding Trump and COVID-19. Trump spread false information regarding the spread of COVID potentially putting at risk citizens. Trump's misinformation statement was fueled by anti-maskers in an attempt to delegitimize the work done by public health professionals. Public health regarding COVID was shaped from STEM advocacy from medical experts urging politicians to implement quarantine, and masks. Public health perception of COVID were largely shaped from politicians, much like trump, as Shao emphasizes, "In this study, we have found some evidence for the politicization of COVID-19, where conservatives show lower risk perceptions than liberals and moderates. We have also found confidence in political leaders' handling of this disease can reduce risk perceptions of this disease " (Shao 4). Politicians being able to accurately advocate for STEM issues, such as a global pandemic shape perceptions of the issue. In addition, STEM advocacy can be impacted by political ideologies that spread misinformation and biases. FOX News is widely known for downplaying climate change and COVID-19. Climate change has become a global issue and grown in public interest having more people become involved in the cause. Regarding, STEM advocacy in climate change is important for the public sphere as the economy and legislation is largely impacted by the advocacy made by climate scientists. However, STEM advocacy should always be used ethically rather than pushing an ideological or political agenda. STEM students must be aware of bias, misinformation, and implementing academic language in their own research. Beyond the course, STEM advocacy is a major responsibility; students should always be as unbiased, ethical, and educated when approaching issues.

STEM advocacy for COVID-19 implementation to legislation.

STEM advocacy for climate change activism.

Works Cited

"Academic Tone and Language." 2021 The University of Queensland , Academic Writing Skills https://uq.pressbooks.pub/academicwritingskills/chapter/academic-tone-and-language/

Alice Fabbri et al., “The Influence of Industry Sponsorship on the Research Agenda: A Scoping Review”, AJPH, vol. 108, no. 11, 2018, pp. 9-16.

file:///C:/Users/12133/Downloads/The_Influence_of_Industry_Spon.pdf.

Catenacci, Thomas. “Democrats Blaming Climate Change For Hurricane Ian At Odds With Science, Experts Say.” FOX News, 30 Sept 2022 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-blaming-climate-change-hurricane-ian-odds-science-experts-say.

CDC. “A Recent @CDCMMWR Looking at Exposures among People w/ and w/O #COVID19 Also Assessed Rates of Mask Use. However, the Interpretation That More Mask-Wearers Are Getting Infected Compared to Non-Mask Wearers Is Incorrect.” Twitter, 14 Oct. 2020, NP, https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1316483997061517314.

Larson, Jeff, et al. “How We Analyzed the COMPAS Recidivism Algorithm.” ProPublica, 23 May 2016, NP, www.propublica.org/article/how-we-analyzed-the-compas-recidivism-algorithm.

Parks, Miles, Sylvie Douglis. "Fake news: How to spot misinformation." NPR, 31 October 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/10/29/774541010/fake-news-is-scary-heres-how-to-spot-misinformation.

Rao, Krishna Achuta, et al. “Technical Summary.” Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, edited by Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Cambridge UP, 2021, pp. 42

Sanford, Claire. “Donald Trump NBC Town Hall Transcript October 15.” Rev, 21 Oct. 2020, NP www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-nbc-town-hall-transcript-october-15.

Shao W, Hao F. Confidence in political leaders can slant risk perceptions of COVID-19 in a highly polarized environment. Soc Sci Med. 2020 Sep;261:113235. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113235. Epub 2020 Jul 23. PMID: 32730961; PMCID: PMC7377700.

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