Analysis of Inclusivity of Published Science Communication Curricula for Scientists and STEM Students

There has been an increased push for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and scientists to be trained in science communication. Science communi-cation researchers have outlined various models of how scientists interact with nonscien-tists-including deficit, dialogue, and inclusive approaches. We wanted to analyze whether published science communication curricula for STEM students and scientists exhibit fea-tures of inclusive science communication. We analyzed n = 81 published science commu-nication trainings. We found an increase in such publications over the past two decades. We coded the trainings according to the science communication model they most closely follow, finding 40.7% deficit, 39.5% dialogue, and 19.8% inclusive. Trainings for STEM un-dergraduates were the least likely to provide training in the inclusive model. Finally, only 27.2% of publications included evaluation of the efficacy of the curriculum using an exter-nal scale or framework. These findings present opportunities: while it is positive that there are more published science communication curricula, science education and communica-tion researchers should develop and publish more-inclusive science communication train-ings for STEM students. Additionally, undergraduate students can and should begin their training in science communication with a focus on inclusivity not deficits. Finally, science education researchers should develop more standards for evaluating the efficacy of inclu-sive science communication training.