Get rid of the stereotype: Scientists are human

Stereotypes about scientists have prevailed for quite some time: geeky, male, white (westerner), robot-like, socially challenged, sometimes inhuman, and perhaps evil. Much of the explicit manifestation of these stereotypes has been subsiding, but some insidious expressions and unconscious beliefs have remained. Indeed, recent surveys and studies in social psychology have shown that while ‘scientist’ is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious careers that people can have, ‘scientists’ still suffer from distrust in society, and they are often seen as being more interested in their pursuits of knowledge than in social needs.

The main expressions of these stereotypes can be seen on screen (cinema and TV). As I see things, scientists on screen can be divided into three types: the genius, the ‘mad scientist’, and the attractive and smart female (more recently). Real geniuses, such as Stephen Hawking and the late John Nash, have been the subjects of big biopics such as ‘The Theory of Everything’ and ‘A Beautiful Mind’, but fictional geniuses also abound in movies and TV series. The genius-scientist meme has grown lately, albeit without the cartoonish inhuman characterisation. The ‘mad scientist’ has also tended to disappear from movies, although recent examples can be mentioned: Jurassic Park, Spiderman, The Prestige, and others. The third and most recent category of the ‘attractive and smart’ (and virtuous and fully human) female scientist has become more common; examples of it include Jessica Chastain in ‘Interstellar’, Jodie Foster in ‘Contact’ (some years back), and others.

Another area where stereotype memes about science and scientists can be seen is the slogans that many youngsters who love science display on their T-shirts. For instance: “Stand back, I’m going to try Science”; “Periodically, I Am Sm Ar Te Rn U” (referring to the famous Periodic Table of elements and their chemical symbols); “Yes, I’m always right” (with a right angle drawn next to the slogan); “May the Mass times Acceleration be with you” (referring to Newton’s law F = m a); and “You read my T-shirt; that’s enough social interaction for one day.”

Of course, some of these are tongue-in-cheek references to the above stereotypes; others are just bad jokes (reinforcing the idea that scientists are only smart when it comes to science; in humour they’re idiots); or, as in the first slogan I have mentioned, implicitly support the notion that science is something hard and unusual, perhaps even dangerous.

There are other even more sneaky manifestations of the above stereotypes in today’s culture. Just type ‘scientist’ in Google-images and scroll through the first 50 or so pictures you get. As you know, Google gives different responses to searches depending on who makes the request and where (it takes into account your past queries and interests, using your Gmail exchanges, your YouTube viewings, and more). In any case, when I googled ‘scientist’, almost all the images I got had people in white lab coats; a large majority were male; the female ones all looked “attractive and smart”; very few were non-white; and all the cartoons showed a character that looked like Einstein or at least had dishevelled hair and resembled the famous ‘nutty professor’.

But, as I mentioned above, these stereotypes have started to give way to more realistic portrayals, as the writers of scripts for films and TV series have learnt to avoid simplistic characters. More importantly, however, the unconscious and implicit memes (as in the T-shirts, the cartoons, and the Google images which refer to the main websites out there) still carry those ideas.

And indeed, the general image that society carries about scientists still reflects that stereotype, as found in recent surveys and studies. In both a Harris poll carried out two years ago and an academic study published a few months ago, scientists were described by US population samples as “somewhat inhuman”, “obsessed enough with the pursuit of knowledge that they are perceived as capable of immoral conduct”, and “potentially dangerous”.

As psychologists explained, the general perception of scientists as “inhuman” is probably due to the fact that people tend to unconsciously oppose intellect and emotion: being smart and rational must make one heartless and cunning.

Why is this important? Because social images and self-perceptions have strong effects on what careers youngsters want to pursue. Indeed, educators and social psychologists have found that girls often prefer to follow “more socially acceptable” fields and careers. In fact, in the more traditional Arab culture, girls are often explicitly told to become teachers, doctors, or nurses, and not to follow fields where they will be surrounded by males and will even repel marriage suitors.

For all kinds of reasons, we (particularly in the Arab world) need to get rid of those very wrong stereotypes.

Scientists are human, like everyone else; most are ethical and caring; some are not; the world is like that, the same for all of us.

Nidhal Guessoum is a professor of physics and astronomy at the American University of Sharjah. You can follow him on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/@NidhalGuessoum.