How Scientists View Vaccine Hesitancy

This paper examines possible causes, consequences, and potential solutions for addressing vaccine hesitancy in the United States, focusing on the perspectives of academic scientists. By examining the experiences of scientists, who are arguably a critical community in US society, we gain deeper insights into how they understand the complexities of vaccine hesitancy and whether their insights and opinions converge with or diverge from the current literature. We present findings from a national survey of a representative sample of academic scientists from the fields of biology and public health regarding vaccine hesitancy and related topics. Empirical analysis using descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses covers multiple topics, including vaccine controversy, trust in science, causes of vaccine hesitancy, preferred policy and regulatory approaches, risk perceptions, and scientists' ethics and perceived communication roles. The results highlight a diversity of opinions within the scientific community regarding how to improve science-society communication in regard to vaccines, including the need to be transparent and candid to the public about the risk of vaccines and their research.

U.S. Visa and Immigration Policy Challenges: Explanations for Faculty Perceptions and Intent to Leave

United States (US) immigration policies have increasingly focused on national security resulting in universities experiencing declines in international student applications, constraints on international scholar employment, and complications facilitating international research collaborations. The COVID-19 pandemic brought additional travel restrictions, embassy closures, and health and safety concerns that exacerbated these challenges. Science mobility is critical for science education, training, competitiveness, and innovation. Using a representative sample of US and foreign-born scientists in three STEM fields, we explore how recent visa and immigration policies have shaped research collaborations, work with students and postdoctoral scholars, and intentions to leave. We use descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and logistic regression and find academic scientists report disruptions from visa and immigration policies; negative impacts of immigration policies on US higher education; negative effects on recruitment and retention of international trainees; and increased intentions to leave the US driven by negative perceptions of immigration policy.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11162-023-09731-0.

COVID-19 and gender inequity in science: Consistent harm over time

Stay-at-home-orders, online learning, and work from home policies are some of the responses governments, universities, and other institutions adopted to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, research shows these measures have increased pre-existing gender disparities in the workplace. The working conditions for women during the pandemic worsened due to increased family care responsibilities and unequal distribution of domestic labor. In the academy, working from home has resulted in reduced research time and increased teaching and family care responsibilities, with a larger proportion of that burden falling to women. We investigate the persistence of gender inequity among academic scientists resulting from university COVID-19 responses over time. We draw on two surveys administered in May 2020 and May 2021 to university-based biologists, biochemists, and civil and environmental engineers, to analyze how the pandemic response has disproportionately impacted women in academia and the endurance of those inequities. Results show significantly greater negative impacts from the pandemic on women’s research activities and work-life balance, compared to men. We conclude by discussing the implications of our results, and the need for the academy to better predict and adjust to the gender disparities its policies create.

Correction: COVID-19 and the academy: opinions and experiences of university-based scientists in the U.S

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00823-9.].

COVID-19 and the academy: opinions and experiences of university-based scientists in the U.S

Much of the available evidence regarding COVID-19 effects on the scientific community in the U.S. is anecdotal and non-representative. We report findings from a based survey of university-based biologists, biochemists, and civil and environmental engineers regarding negative and positive COVID-19 impacts, respondent contributions to addressing the pandemic, and their opinions regarding COVID-19 research policies. The most common negative impact was university closures, cited by 93% of all scientists. Significant subgroup differences emerged, with higher proportions of women, assistant professors, and scientists at institutions located in COVID-19 "hotspot" counties reporting difficulties concentrating on research. Assistant professors additionally reported facing more unanticipated childcare responsibilities. Approximately half of the sample also reported one or more positive COVID-19 impacts, suggesting the importance of developing a better understanding of the complete range of impacts across all fields of science. Regarding COVID-19 relevant public policy, findings suggest divergence of opinion concerning surveillance technologies and the need to alter federal approval processes for new tests and vaccines.

The Role of Genetic Resources in Breeding for Climate Change: The Case of Public Breeding Programmes in Eighteen Developing Countries

The role of plant breeding in adapting crops to climate changes that affect food production in developing countries is recognized as extremely important and urgent, alongside other agronomic, socio-economic and policy adaptation pathways. To enhance plant breeders' capacity to respond to climate challenges, it is acknowledged that they need to be able to access and use as much genetic diversity as they can get. Through an analysis of data from a global survey, we explore if and how public breeders in selected developing countries are responding to climate challenges through a renewed or innovative use of plant genetic resources, particularly in terms of types of material incorporated into their breeding work as well as sources of such germplasm. It also looks at the possible limitations breeders encounter in their efforts towards exploring diversity for adaptation. Breeders are clearly considering climate challenges. In general, their efforts are aimed at intensifying their breeding work on traits that they were already working on before climate change was so widely discussed. Similarly, the kinds of germplasm they use, and the sources from which they obtain it, do not appear to have changed significantly over the course of recent years. The main challenges breeders faced in accessing germplasm were linked to administrative/legal factors, particularly related to obtaining genetic resources across national borders. They also underscore technical challenges such as a lack of appropriate technologies to exploit germplasm sets such as crop wild relatives and landraces. Addressing these limitations will be crucial to fully enhance the role of public sector breeders in helping to adapt vulnerable agricultural systems to the challenges of climate change.

What drives public transit organizations in the United States to adapt to extreme weather events?

Extreme weather events often disrupt the operation of public transit systems, and challenge the capacity of transit agencies to effectively respond to them. In this paper, we draw upon a recent nationwide survey of 273 public transit agencies in metropolitan regions across the United States to understand the factors that influence their scope of adaptation to anticipated climate risks. We find that a transit agency undertakes more adaptation measures when transit officials perceive greater risks and greater adaptive capacity of the agency, or when it experiences more severe extreme weather events. We also show that local institutional environment, in particular, political ideology, affects the scope of transit adaptation activities. Transit agencies that operate in more politically liberal counties tend to engage in more adaptation actions, while the effect of state-level ideology depends on the level of perceived influence from state governments.

An integrative theory-driven framework for evaluating travel training programs

Since the 1970s, travel training programs, which provide a short-term training to people with disabilities and older people to teach them independent travel skills required to use fixed-route transportation, have spread across the United States. But the authors note that currently, there is no integrative framework for evaluating the training programs, although it is crucial for improving program implementation and developing knowledge and theories related to travel training. Therefore, this research aims to build an integrative theory-driven evaluation framework of the programs on the basis of prior studies on travel training and the literature on program evaluation and learning and training theories. The framework considers (1) a wide range of key elements related to the delivery systems and outcomes of travel training; (2) diverse stakeholders that engage in designing, operating, and assessing travel training; and (3) the short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes of the programs. Based on the framework, the authors develop a flexible logic model for travel training programs to help scholars and practitioners design and conduct actual evaluation studies. Thus, this research is expected to make theoretical and practical contributions to theory-driven program evaluation and travel training programs.

Socio-Technical Determinants of Information Security Perceptions in US Local Governments

Concerns about electronic information security in government have increased alongside increased use of online media. However, to date, few studies have examined the social mechanisms influencing electronic information security. This article applies a socio-technical framework to model how technical, organizational and environmental complexities limit electronic information security perceived by local government managers. Furthermore, it examines to what extent organizational design buffers security risks. Using data from a 2010 national survey of local government managers, this article empirically tests the proposed model in the context of U.S. local government's online media use. Findings show that, in addition to technical complexity, organizational and environmental complexities are negatively associated with local managers' awareness of and confidence in electronic information security. On the other hand, internal security policy and decentralized decision-making appear to buffer security risks and enhance perceived information security.

Impact of genetic drift on access and benefit sharing under the Nagoya Protocol: the case of the Meishan pig

Genetic drift (GD) randomly impacts small breeds and imported populations. Therefore, it can impact policies that affect conservation of animal genetic resources. This paper evaluates GD for a population of Meishan pigs imported into the United States and explores the ramifications of GD on access and benefit sharing of genetic resources under the Nagoya Protocol (NP) of the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity. The NP was motivated by concerns about fair and equitable benefit sharing of genetic resources across life forms. In this experiment, 35 microsatellite markers were used to quantify the level of GD that occurred between Meishan pigs (Meishan-China; n = 22) imported into the United States in the late 1980s and contemporary Meishan (Meishan-US; n = 42), which have been randomly bred since importation. The Meishan-US consisted of 2 subpopulations (Meishan-MARC and Meishan-ISU). Five other breeds were also included in the analysis to serve as reference populations: Fengjing and Minzhu, which were imported with Meishan-China, and Duroc, Berkshire, and Yorkshire from the United States. Mean shift in allele frequency was 0.11 (SE = 0.019) due to GD for Meishan-US vs. Meishan-China with some loci having changed allele frequencies by greater than 0.20. Principle coordinate analysis confirmed divergence among the Meishan populations. Model-based clustering tended to place the U.S. and Chinese breeds into 2 distinct clusters, likely due to differences in allele frequencies between U.S. and Chinese breeds. Contemporary Meishan-US has become differentiated from the original imported animals due to GD. Attributing future performance of Meishan-US to Meishan-China, as set forth by NP, is problematic due to GD. As an imported breed becomes established there will be an increasing number of breeders who may have different selection goals and private treaty contracts will govern the exchange of stock between them. Therefore, considering biological phenomena and social dynamics simultaneously draws into question whether a rigorous access and benefit sharing protocol as envisioned in the NP will be operational.

Methods for identifying translational researchers

There is currently no generally accepted method for identifying the community of translational researchers when evaluating Clinical and Translational Science Centers. We use data from the multiyear evaluation of the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) to investigate the complexities of reliably identifying translational researchers. We use three methods to identify translational researchers: (1) participating in CCTS services and programs; (2) self-identifying as a translational researcher; and (3) engaging in activities that are characteristic of translational science. We find little overlap of these differently defined research groups. We conclude with a discussion of how the findings suggest challenges for evaluating translational science programs and the need for better definition, communication, and demonstration of translational science for scientists and evaluators.

Addressing fear of crime in public space: gender differences in reaction to safety measures in train transit

Research has identified several factors that affect fear of crime in public space. However, the extent to which gender moderates the effectiveness of fear-reducing measures has received little attention. Using data from the Chicago Transit Authority Customer Satisfaction Survey of 2003, this study aims to understand whether train transit security practices and service attributes affect men and women differently. Findings indicate that, while the presence of video cameras has a lower effect on women's feelings of safety compared with men, frequent and on-time service matters more to male passengers. Additionally, experience with safety-related problems affects women significantly more than men. Conclusions discuss the implications of the study for theory and gender-specific policies to improve perceptions of transit safety.