The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) publishes Participation of women scientists as expert sources in the media: motivations and obstacles, a study conducted by the Science Media Centre Spain (SMC) and the research group Gureiker, from the University of the Basque Country.
The report gathers and analyses data from a pioneering survey in our country, aiming to study which factors influence scientists’ decisions to participate in the media as expert sources. The study analyses the profiles of the people contacted as information sources who agree to participate in science communication activities in the media, or decline to do so. It also explores their main motivations when communicating science in the media and how these relate with different variables (gender, affiliation, area of study, years of research experience). Finally, it examines the main obstacles these sources face when communicating science in the media.
In Spain, women make up 42 % of researchers, a percentage that varies across research areas and employment sectors. However, several studies have highlighted the underrepresentation of women scientists in both traditional and digital media, and have pointed out that the image of female researchers in the media is often prone to bias and stereotypes. This lower media visibility may impact the social image of female scientists themselves, given the media's potential to shape and transform public opinion. In this context, and considering the social and academic consequences, analyzing their participation in the media, as well as the motivations and obstacles they perceive, is essential.
Data was collected through a confidential online survey. The participants were all experts in various fields of science and technology whom the SMC Spain contacted as potential sources of information over a three-month period starting in March 2024. A total of 649 surveys were sent out and the response rate was 37.48%, with 241 responses obtained.
Participation as expert sources
One of the study’s main findings is that male researchers receive a higher share than women of media requests to serve as expert sources. Over the three-month period of analysis, 43.91% of the sources contacted by the SMC Spain were women and 56.09% were men. However, when it came to scientists who accepted the SMC’s invitation to contribute as a news source, the proportion of women dropped to 37.66% of women, compared with 62.34% of men.
The greater media exposure of male scientists brings them benefits in terms of future participation. The study’s data confirm that journalists often favour sources who have previously engaged with the media. During the study period, the SMC’s team stated that 51.65% of male sources were contacted to comment on a science news item because they had already participated in this type of content before, compared to 43.16% of women. Female scientists, on the other hand, were consulted more often because they had written recent scientific papers on the topic in question (48.07%) than men were (40.94%).
In addition, the male scientists surveyed were more likely than their female counterparts to accept the SMC's invitations to serve as information sources: 20.35% of female respondents accepted, compared to 26.37% of men.
Motivations for participating as expert sources
When asked about their motivations for engaging with the media, 82.02% of scientists who participated as sources during the study period said that they see media engagement as a part of their professional responsibility. This motivation was more prevalent among women respondents (91.67%) than among men (75.47%).
61.8% of the researchers who have engaged with the media say they were motivated to improve the coverage of the topic being discussed (75% of women compared to 52.83% of men). There are significant differences in motivations depending on the respondents’ gender, with a higher percentage of women mentioning reasons related to scientists’ social responsibility to make knowledge available to the public. Moreover, male scientists cite potential individual benefits for their academic career as a motivation to engage with the media (18.87%) more often than female scientists do (5.56%).
Beyond gender, other factors influence scientists’ media participation. Researchers with fewer years of experience are more likely to report that they enjoy communicating with the media and that they agree to engage with them because it benefits their academic career. Besides, researchers in the life sciences and health are most likely to value the opportunity to improve media coverage of their scientific fields (64.62%), probably due to the prominence that these topics have on the media agenda.
Obstacles to media participation
The primary barrier preventing scientists from engaging with the media is lack of time due to workload, cited by 63.16% of respondents, both male and female, who turned down invitations to serve as an SMC news source.
The proportion of respondents who said they refused to participate because they do not consider themselves experts on the subject is slightly higher among women (6.56%) than among men (5.56%). Overall, there are no major gender differences in the barriers preventing researchers from participating in the media, with one exception: lack of time due to family responsibilities. These time constraints were cited by female scientists (22.95%) more often than by male scientists (10%), a difference of almost 13 percentage points. Lack of time related to family responsibilities also has a greater impact on less experienced researchers.
The report was presented at the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid) in an event closed by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant. The event, which was welcomed by the director general of FECYT, Izaskun Lacunza, was attended by Maider Eizmendi, scientific director of the report and researcher in the Gureiker group (UPV/EHU), and Ainara Larrondo, head researcher in the Gureiker group. Both explained the main results, objectives and methodology of the work. In addition, there was a round table with the participation of Alicia Pérez Porro, marine biologist, head of political interaction and institutional relations at the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Alfredo Corell, Professor of Immunology at the University of Seville (US), Patricia Fernández de Lis, editor-in-chief of ‘Materia’, the Science, Technology and Health section of EL PAÍS, and Maider Eizmendi, scientific director of the study. The round table was moderated by Pampa García Molina, coordinator of SMC Spain.
