Science Cafés, Art-Science Events, and Audience Diversity
Who came—and who did not? Evaluating how public events reach people.
Is a science event successful when participants enjoy it and report high satisfaction? The Kano Lab compared science cafés and art–science events through intentions to participate, actual audiences, engagement with science and technology, and motivations for attendance.
Science cafés
Science cafés create relatively small spaces in which researchers and members of the public can talk. They can make specialist topics more approachable, but they may also disproportionately attract people who are already interested in science or well connected to universities and research institutions.
We studied not only the quality of conversation, but also who received information about the event and who felt that it was a space for them.
Art–science events
Art, music, design and performance may create entry points for people who would not attend something labelled a “science event.” They may also bring their own cultural barriers or make the scientific question less visible.
Rather than treating the absence of an explicit science label as a goal in itself, we examined how cultural entry points could support dialogue among people with different interests.
Evaluating audience diversity
- Compare people who say they would attend with those who actually attend.
- Look beyond interest in science to engagement with policy and cultural activity.
- Avoid reducing audiences to age and gender alone.
- Investigate motivations, information pathways and barriers.
- Do not infer inclusion from participant satisfaction alone.
Connection to current work
This research informs current work on people with low interest in science and technology, culturally relevant STEAM, workshop accessibility, recruitment through social media and the design of public participation.
Related award
2019 Best Presentation Award, Japan Society for Science Education Analysis of intentions to attend and actual audiences at an art–science event
Related papers
Goto, T., Kudo, M., & Kano, K. (2015). パブリックエンゲージメント参加者層の多様性評価手法の探索 [Exploring methods for evaluating the diversity of public-engagement participants]. Japanese Journal of Science Communication, 17, 3–19. DOI / official page
Kano, K., Mizumachi, E., & Ikkatai, Y. (2020). 科学イベントへの参加意向と実際の参加者層の分析 [Analysis of intentions to attend science events and actual participants: A comparison of science cafés and art–science events]. Journal of Science Education in Japan, 44(4), 254–260. DOI / official page