Strategic Communication for Science and Technology

To a greater or lesser extent, scientists and science-performing institutions are in the business of communicating about their research. Peer-to-peer communication characterizes most “scientific” communication, and much of that is moderated through academic journals, professional conferences, and in technical seminars and symposia—many researchers resist or feel uncomfortable engaging in “public” communication about their work. But societal and political pressures are placing increasing pressure on scientists and research institutions not only to communicate to the public about the research they perform, but also to make sure that public communication has the desired impact of broadening public support for the scientific enterprise more broadly. In other words, the purpose is not just to communicate, but to communicate strategically.

For the most part, this entry discusses strategic communications within a research-performing or research-funding organization, such as a university, corporation, or government agency. Within the past few decades, most of these organizations have hired science writers or other science communicators to do the job of communicating with the nonscientific public about the organization, its mission, and its research. However, most science communicators are empowered to make only tactical, day-to-day decisions—whether to write a news release or shoot b-roll, which news stories to feature in the organization's magazine, whether to put stories on the Web, in print, or both. Very few of these science communicators are empowered to make strategic decisions about the kinds of science communication the organization does, the role of science communicators in the organization, the relationship of the organization to its audiences or publics, or the commitment of organizational resources toward communication. Strategic communication about science and technology starts with having the science communicators at the organization's decision-making table, where they must be able to help set organizational policy and priorities, as well as implement them.

A strategic approach to communication implies mindfulness of the news or information environment in which the organization finds itself, the key messages the institution wishes to convey, the audiences to whom the messages should be targeted and how they acquire and use information, the expected outcomes of the message (awareness, understanding, behavior), the success of the messages in eliciting those outcomes, and how the communication function of the organization is integrated into organizational politics and culture.