APS Member Survey on Public Engagement: Supplemental Information

Home › Programs › Public Engagement › APS Member Survey on Public Engagement: Supplemental Information

In 2022, APS contracted the AIP Statistical Research Center to conduct a survey of APS members’ involvement, interests, challenges, and perceived value regarding public engagement in physics. Based on these findings, we can see that public engagement matters to APS members, many of whom see the benefit of public engagement experience in strengthening the physics community. Among survey respondents, 85% report that engaging with the public was important. However, there are barriers to participating in public engagement that the physics community must address.

Get Involved in APS Public Engagement Initiatives

Address misinformation about science

Join the Science Trust Project and learn skills necessary to address misinformation and disinformation.

Connect with other physicists on public engagement

The Joint Network for Informal Physics Education and Research (JNIPER) brings together professionals participating in public engagement.

Public Engagement and APS Core Values

We defined public engagement broadly as, “any interactions you have with the public where you exchange information and knowledge of physics. The types of activities we are interested in are also sometimes referred to as 'community engagement,' 'outreach,' 'informal education,' or 'non-formal education.'”

Aligned with the APS Core Values of the Scientific Method and Education and Learning, the data gathered from this survey will help ensure that APS Public Engagement programming is member-centric and advances the APS mission.

Ways to participate in public engagement:

Survey Respondents

The survey was sent to a large, representative sample of APS membership. We received 2,208 responses, a 23.7% response rate. A random sample of members was selected from each membership category. However, responses include an oversampling of the APS Regular and Senior membership categories and an undersampling of the Graduate and Undergraduate members.

Employment and Training

Respondents, excluding students and retired members, were employed in the following sectors:

Academic or educational institution: 67%
Government or national lab: 22%
Private sector: 8%
Non-profit organization: 2%
Other: 1%

Respondents were asked about the location of their employment or training:

59% reported a location in the US
26% reported a location outside the US
15% reported that they were not currently employed or in a training program

Gender Identity

Respondents were asked about their gender identity, with the option to select more than one option:

79% of respondents identified as men
19% identified as women
1% reported another gender identity
3% preferred not to respond

Racial and Ethnic Identity

Only respondents who identified as US citizens (58%) were asked about their racial or ethnic identity. Respondents could choose more than one option or choose not to respond. Of the respondents who identified as US citizens:

78% identified as white
9% as Asian or Asian American
3% as Black or African American
3% as Hispanic or Latino
1% as American Indian or Alaskan Native
1% as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
2% as a race or ethnicity not listed
7% chose not to respond

Member Involvement in Public Engagement

Many APS members are involved in public engagement activities, though about a third of respondents reported never having led public engagement efforts.

Though 32% of respondents reported having never led or facilitated public engagement efforts, nearly half (47%) of that group had at least considered leading or facilitating public engagement.

For respondents who had led public engagement efforts, nearly three-quarters (74%) reported doing so at least once in the last year. Of those who had led public engagement efforts:

About 60% led public engagement activities for adults, high school, or college age populations
37% designed public engagement activities for a middle school audience
27% designed public engagement activities for an elementary age audience

Barriers to Public Engagement and Incentives

Many APS members surveyed reported interest and experience facilitating public engagement. Of respondents, 70% indicated that the field of physics is supportive of public engagement efforts.

However, not all of our members have the resources they need to participate in public engagement activities.

Multivariate analysis reveals that access to resources needed to facilitate future public engagement efforts is not equal among different demographic groups. Differences are significant at the α=0.05 level. We found that respondents who identified as Asian were more likely to indicate they would need additional access to volunteers and financial resources.

Physicists' roles in their institutions also appeared to be a factor in access to public engagement resources. Assistant professors were less likely than those at other academic ranks to indicate their current institution/company was generally supportive of public engagement efforts and were also less likely to indicate their coworkers were generally supportive of public engagement efforts.

Gender was another factor related to respondents' participation and access to resources in public engagement efforts. Men were less likely than other gender identity groups to report they would need additional access to training or time. In the multivariate analysis of responses to the question, “In the past three years, has anyone discouraged you from facilitating public engagement efforts?,” being a man was associated with a decreased likelihood of discouragement.

Interests and Incentives in Public Engagement

Despite barriers to participating in public engagement efforts, APS members surveyed indicated interest in public engagement and also described incentives that would encourage them to take part in public engagement activities. From the multivariate analysis, we see Graduate APS members were more likely than the other membership types to indicate that the following would be incentivizing: