Wanted: STEM Education for the Grown-Ups

Because Kids. Don’t. Vote.

Q. Can we inspire more kids to pursue space-related science and research? If so, how?

A. Kids are never the problem. They are born scientists. The problem is always the adults. The beat the curiosity out of the kids. They out-number kids. They vote. They wield resources. That’s why my public focus is primarily adults.

-from Neil deGrasse Tyson’s 2011 Reddit Ask Me Anything

I’m completely with him on this one. Why? Because kids don’t vote.

Companies and scientific government agencies (e.g. The Smithsonian, NASA) focus so much of their STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—outreach attention on youth, but spend so little energy and funds on programs for adults. Of course, I’m not arguing that we should stop educating the kids—that would be ridiculous. But we can no longer rest on the excuse that all our problems will be solved with the next generation, because as we just saw with the devastating Typhoon in the Philippines, the world’s greatest problems such as climate change demand our attention and action right now.

Brain, behavior, and opinion plasticity is real. However, getting adults to think critically about science is not unachievable. Efforts in participatory democracy such as consensus conferences and citizensʼ juries in the US and Europe have shown that when given access to scientific and technical information, ordinary people have been able to formulate thoughtful positions and recommendations on science and technology issues such as nanotechnology and GMOs.

Yes, it is difficult. Yes, it requires creativity. Yes, it will make you want to pull your armpit hairs out. But it is essential.

The same kids that grow up to vote against climate change measures and support anti-science politicians were not educated in caves devoid of common sense and text books; these kids had chemistry sets, had doctors and scientists visit their classrooms, and were taught all about Darwin and his finches. They looked through telescopes with their grandfathers and traumatically learned about where babies come from by watching The Miracle of Life. They grew up to work as accountants, pilots, and consultants. In short: these are not stupid people.

But somewhere between the span of twinkly-eyed fourth grader dreaming to be an astronaut to the budget conscious pragmatist who doesn’t understand what a solar eclipse is, something strange happens. Their curiosity wanes. Their confidence in their ability to process scientific data drops. And they grow less and less open to challenging their world-views. Given that these are the people who are casting the ballots for the measures and politicians that determine the future of science and technology funding, shouldn’t we be putting a bit more effort into the grownups?