Science in the Philippines: Down, but not Dead

Science in the Philippines: Down, but not Dead

by Erinne Ong

If one were to ask young Filipinos what they aspire to be when they grow up, getting “scientist” or “researcher” for an answer would be a miraculous rarity at best. The Philippines severely lacks scientists. The current ratio of 189 scientists for every million of the Filipino population is a far cry from the 380 scientists per million standard set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and shrinks even more in comparison with Singapore’s 6700 per million (Rappler, 2017). Such a condition may have materialized out of public conception of the research career as unrewarding, irrelevant, or overly challenging. This dearth of Filipino scientists and science research output may be a detrimental factor hindering the pursuit of societal development and sustainable progress (Sida, 2016). The importance of scientific disciplines lies in their capacity to explain phenomena and increasing a society’s collective knowledge, which is the domain of pure science, as well as find and develop solutions to problems as the focus of the applied sciences through both basic and applied research endeavors (Goldemberg, 1998; Rochmyaningsih, 2016). Hence, to address the diminished interest in science research careers in the Philippines, the scientific community should incentivize science education, research and development, mainstream science into societal culture, and train science professionals to be better communicators.

Incentives and gratification

The scientific community should incentivize science education, research and development. Proper financial support must be extended to scientists in order to position the career as valuable and gratifying. This can manifest as scholarship opportunities for individuals looking to pursue secondary and tertiary education in the sciences, monetary funding or research grants for promising project proposals, and sponsored local and international journal submissions and conference participation, as is being implemented by foreign universities and government agencies (Stanford University, 2017; American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018). Offering adequate remuneration implicates that scientists are enabled to fully commit to being a full-time graduate student or research specialist, without having to find additional part-time jobs to make ends meet, thereby equipping them to sustainably advance their respective careers (Rochmyaningsih, 2016) and help enhance the research output of their affiliated institutions (Holmgren & Schnitzer, 2004) through accomplishing successful discoveries and innovations (DiChristina, 2014). Moreover, whether sourced from government agencies, private organizations or higher education institutions (HEIs), allocating such kind of budget explicitly denotes strong respect for the discipline and acknowledgement of the significant contributions of the research and development sector (Holmgren & Schnitzer, 2004), and rewards researchers with a sense of validation and recognition as recipients of these grants. The promise of both monetary incentives and psychological fulfillment could thus heighten the appeal of the career path, making it a “self-sustaining pursuit” (Rochmyaningsih, 2016, para. 8) and a viable choice that could prove to be competitive with the advantages that other options may be able to offer. This is supported by various behavior theories claiming that positive reinforcement and incentives can motivate individuals (Hill, 1985; Saylor Academy, 2012) and that people tend to weigh cost against benefit when making a decision (Roy, 1984).

While some funding initiatives are already in place, particularly coming from the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Innovation Councils (Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, 2018; Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development, 2018), the implementation method can be improved to maximize reach and increase visibility. To supplement the calls for proposals being posted on the agency’s social media accounts and website, it may be more effective to send official invitation letters or memoranda about the program to secondary and tertiary academic institutions to ensure that more people are informed about the available research grants. On the aspect of sustaining interest in science careers, it would be best if these opportunities were extended to early-career researchers, but the screening process is likely to frequently favor veteran applicants who have more credentials, experience, and expertise — and justifiably so for the assurance of quality and success of the proposed projects. To increase inclusivity and diversity, an advisable solution would be to bring early-career researchers and students onto research teams headed by experienced principal investigators granted with the funding. In this way, a supportive and constructive environment can be established with strong mentorship and collaborative efforts to effectively guide and further the growth of novice scientists.

Gratification and fulfillment can also be obtained through entering competitions and exhibits, particularly aimed at enticing youth involvement in the scientific process. The Department of Education (DepEd) and DOST could organize a science fair competition specifically for presenting science investigatory projects and research endeavors featuring divisional, regional, and national stages and different categories per age group and specialization or subject area, similar to what has been done locally in the fields of journalism, sports, mathematics and informatics, and internationally through the Google Science Fair. At such a high-stakes event, the triumphant sentiments and according of awards for winning would predictably be the motivating incentives to revitalize the youth’s interest in the sciences, but being furnished with workshops and lecture sessions in addition to experiencing the competition proper could be just as equally satisfying and curiosity-cultivating. Without necessarily expecting large-scale, big-impact projects nor publishable papers as in DOST’s grants, a national youth science fair is recommended for implementation as an avenue for high school students to explore their ideas, hone their skills, and engage with the network of the local science community, ultimately resulting in a concerted effort to recognize young, aspiring Filipino scientists at a crucially relevant time — prior to their selection of college courses and career paths.

Science in local culture

Another solution for the presented issue would be through the scientific community making a clear effort to mainstream science into societal culture. Researchers should take steps to raise public awareness on the latest developments in various fields of science. It might be enticing and effective to jump to mass media platforms to screen running headlines, broadcast special TV programs to cover science topics and research breakthroughs akin to National Geographic and BBC documentaries, and include science feature sections in news programs or broadsheet publications. That said, a lower cost alternative would be to take advantage of the power of social media to share the research and talk about science in creative ways — this could include infographics and short video features that could highlight a new technology or discovery, tell the story of a particular scientist, or attempt to explain a particular phenomenon as an application of scientific theory and concepts. For example, Compound Interest (2016, 2017, 2018) regularly posts eye-catching and easy-to-read infographics on chemistry topics relevant to a particular holiday or event, such as a guide to the chemistry of LED lights for Christmas season or a feature on the latest Nobel Prize winner as well as periodic research briefings through #ChemMonthly News Round-ups. Similar initiatives could be done by DOST, the science departments and student organizations of academic institutions, and the publishers and editors of local science journals like the Manila Journal of Science. Crucially, this will require not just the efforts of the original content creators from the scientific community but more so the consumers of the media message themselves — the success and effectivity of online publicity and marketing initiatives will need the cyberspace presence of the general public to share the posts, generate discussion and spark interest, leading to increased visibility, engagement and audience impact.

Along a similar line, science needs to be made more publicly accessible. Science could be assimilated into books, podcasts, teleseryes (TV dramas) or movies through either non-fictional but popularized (i.e., not textbook-like) approaches or as fictional elements within a story. Currently available for public consumption are plenty of the following: science books aimed at young children such as "How to Code” (Wainewright, 2016) and “From Caterpillar to Butterfly” (Heiligman, 1996); texts in the popular science genre including “The Brain: The Story of You” by David Eagleman (2015) and “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi (2016); and prominent science fiction or realistic medical novels, TV shows, and movies like Michael Crichton’s “The Andromeda Strain” (1971), “Grey’s Anatomy” (Rhimes, 2005), and “Contagion” (Shamberg, Sher, Jacobs, & Soderbergh, 2011), which could serve as the predecessors to new creative works in the entertainment industry that might opt to focus instead on researchers as the main characters. Also popular are the science kits produced to give young children the opportunity to emulate conducting their own science projects and experiments, particularly in robotics like the Lego Mindstorms set (Lego, n.d.). Perhaps the issue to be resolved then is one of distribution — to reach a wider market, the scientific community may choose to subsidize production of local science-themed items to reduce market prices, distribute them as part of special outreach programs or science for the masses initiatives, as well as translate the verbal contents of these works into the native tongue and other local dialects. Repeated exposure of this sort, and essentially molding science to become a natural part of one’s everyday encounters, can gradually allow curiosity and interest to be built up over time, such that the field can gain traction in terms of public approval and respect.

Ultimately, the establishment of science as a core part of the Filipino culture would be manifested in society celebrating the discipline and its professionals. This could be enacted through giving due recognition to deserving scientists and significant research projects, specifically by institutionalizing fellowship, and bestowing titles and awards as delineated in the respective websites of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018) in the United States and the Royal Society (2018) in the United Kingdom. Just like the orders presented to the National Artists of the Philippines for various art forms such as literature, music, theater, and dance (National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2015), there are also orders for recognizing National Scientists through the National Academy of Science and Technology but these awards appear to be less known with the last induction held in 2014 (Sabillo, 2014) and clearly lack the media coverage, publicity and level of admiration and attention that the Filipinos so readily offer to artists and celebrities in the entertainment industry, or other famous personalities like athletes and rich corporate owners. If this can be rectified, more of the youth can grow into aspiring scientists that look up to and emulate the successes of science professionals, who themselves may find fulfillment in seeing their work rise to prominence and socially relevance within and beyond their sphere of influence through transcending the scientific community into wider public recognition — ultimately, this signifies visionary change and making a difference in their surroundings.

Science communication

Training science professionals to be better communicators may also be enacted by the scientific community as a possible solution to address the lack of interest in the sciences. Effective communication can remove the negative stigma around science and research that has been internalized by the general public. To make the field seem more inviting for individuals to pursue, the intimidation or demotivating fear of failure that surrounds this discipline needs to first be eradicated. This has persisted largely due to the existing notion that scientific concepts, methods and processes are overly difficult, complicated and highfalutin, but the abundance of technical jargon involved does not mean that these topics cannot be explained simply, concisely and accurately for the public, the youth and non-experts to comprehend. While the depth and complexity of scientific knowledge and discoveries should be retained and reserved for specialists in their respective fields, scientists should also acquire the capacity to explain their work to the general public in layman’s terms or in a way that frames science to be more understandable and relatable.

Hence, the proposed solution is to include contextualized science communication modules as part of any scientist’s training and education. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) can mandate academic institutions to implement revisions to existing undergraduate and graduate curricula by adding or modifying courses for both oral and written science communication, or HEIs themselves can organize a series of lecture-workshop sessions for the researchers to practice talking about their work, certain concepts or theories, or their field of study in ways that can be better understood by non-scientists. The format could be similar to continuing medical education (CME) activities (University of the Philippines Manila, 2016), and can include exercises on explaining one’s research to an imagined audience of young children, discussing within a limited timespan or with a pre-determined number of PowerPoint slides as if conducting an elevator pitch, and utilizing only 140 characters or less to describe a topic or experiment without surpassing Twitter’s tweet limit. Honing these communicative competencies will enable scientists to host public talks and exhibits in toned down or simplified form — including acting as distinguished guest speakers at high schools or universities — which could be conducted in addition to delivering their usual in-depth science lectures and conference presentations of their research work to the scientific community specifically.

Instead of being alienating and exclusive, science needs to be taken as something understandable, personally relevant, and intriguing. Notably, effective science communication is not just about brevity of presentation and simplification of content, but it also revolves around creating relatable, humanized and inclusive science research. This may be accomplished by injecting humor or entertainment value, establishing a connection for the audience to feel they have a stake in the process, and eliciting emotional response in line with the Filipino system of values, principles and ideologies. A prime example would be the multitude of open-to-public TED talks that are science-centered yet framed in entertaining or emotionally appealing, insightful, and not-too-technical ways, as observed in “The Secret Social Lives of Bacteria” by Bonnie Bassler, “Forward by Failure: Science, Medicine, and You” by Kevin Jones, and “Quantum Physics for 7 Year Olds” by Dominic Walliman. It does not take anything away from science if it were made to be more down-to-earth — on the contrary, it would allow the scientific community to reach out and more effectively engage their audience through implicitly stimulating analytical cognition and thinking in scientific ways as well as encouraging nurtured interests in various scientific disciplines and research areas.

By implementing the proposed solutions of providing incentives, mainstreaming science into the local culture, and practicing effective science communication, the scientific community may feasibly be able to bolster public interest in their line of work. With costly yet arguably effective as well as lower cost alternatives presented, these solutions can position science as a “for everyone” entity and can favorably influence non-scientists' attitudes and mentalities towards the discipline. In the long run, science interest and science careers could gradually gain traction in the eyes of the public. An ideally enhanced research and development sector of the Philippines resulting from an envisioned resurgence of well-trained and passionate scientists can propel the local society towards economic and intellectual development. The scientific community as a whole would be able to pave its own way towards knowledge generation and acquisition, bridge theory and concepts with context-based application and concrete innovations, and ultimately stand on its own two feet as a credible, progressive, and highly-respected institution of society. Perhaps the next time one asks a young child what kind of job he/she might want to have in the future, he/she might express aspirations to become a scientist, and perhaps then the scientific community would be ready to welcome him/her into a structure that is more equipped to support these goals and interests as a valuable and viable career path.

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