JSPG Blog

JSPG Author Takes the Stage at AAAS: A Voyage From Earth to the Cosmos

5/1/2024

Introducing Christian Johnson, the author of the JSPG paper, who shares his experience presenting the paper in collaboration with JSPG at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Johnson has a PhD in particle physics and works in the research side of the policy field.

I recently had the pleasure of attending the AAAS annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, to present my paper published with JSPG. My talk was technically related to outer space, but it was decidedly more down-to-earth than the fate of the Universe.

Imagine this: a towering structure reaching from Earth into the depths of outer space, capable of preparing us for space travel. That’s the essence of my talk about the space elevator, a hypothetical megastructure that, if built, would dramatically lower the cost of launching payloads into orbit.

Space Travel in An Elevator

The idea behind the space elevator is simple: a counterweight is placed in outer space, and connected to the Earth by an extremely long cable. As the Earth rotates, centrifugal force holds the tether in tension, creating a scalable surface to which a “climber” can cling to and carry payloads. When the climber reaches an altitude of about 36,000 kilometers, it can simply release the payload that finds itself entering orbit – no muss, no fuss.

By climbing up a tether instead of a rocket, the climber saves the hassle of carrying its fuel, which leads to dramatic cost savings. The whole thing is a bit zany and sci-fi, so I knew that engaging the audience wouldn’t be a problem. However, my main concern was toeing the right line between the fun and the practical.

The main point of the paper was to discuss some of the geopolitical implications of the space elevator, and when my slides turned to the discussion of multinational treaties, I was worried it would become a snoozefest. But I was pleasantly surprised by the audience engagement. After a lively Q&A session and a discussion, we wrapped up with a group of students who were taken with the idea of a space elevator and the real-world implications.

Diversity in Science

AAAS meetings are about much more than presenting the latest academic research. The conference is about bringing together scientists in different fields who wouldn’t normally talk to one another to meet, cross-pollinate ideas, and learn. This year’s theme “Towards Science Without Walls” underscores this point, and it was certainly reflective of my time in Denver.

With my talk scheduled for the late afternoon, I had most of the day available to attend talks and found that the subjects spanned the whole of the scientific enterprise. I listened to Sheril Kirshenbaum present research on how Congressional staffers learn about scientific issues. Spoiler: listening to scientists is not their preference.

Nearest to my heart was the overview presented by Maura McLaughlin and Xavier Siemens on the NANOGrav experiment, a network of telescopes that measure variations in pulsar periodicities across the sky as a way to detect low-frequency gravitational waves. I hadn’t closely followed this line of research since I graduated, so seeing the latest results, which show good evidence of a signal, was particularly interesting! We live in the era of “multimessenger” astronomy, meaning signals from optical telescopes, neutrino telescopes, gravitational wave detectors, and other instruments can be used in concert to answer long-standing questions about the Universe, and this talk was a perfect example of that paradigm.

As if on cue, an unexpected treat awaited me while wandering the halls after the NANOGrav session: I ran into Joel Primack, who was in attendance to receive the prestigious lifetime achievement award (the Abelson Prize) from AAAS for his contributions to the ΛCDM theory, the best current theory of how dark matter and dark energy shaped the Universe. Joel was an emeritus professor at UC Santa Cruz while I was a graduate student there, so it was great to catch up with him and congratulate him on the award!

Launching Future JSPG Speakers

After giving my talk, I got some time to talk with Julianne McCall and Chiungwei Huang of JSPG, who were the ones who made my trip to Denver possible. Both of them are great; without their tireless efforts, the results laid out in my paper would certainly not have received interest in a short period during the conference. I’m hopeful that as JSPG sends future authors to conferences, they’ll have as good a time spreading their ideas and learning from others as I did. Indeed, science without walls!

[EVENTS RECAP] STRENGTHENING YOUTH-CENTERED POLICY AND GOVERNANCE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN HEALTH

8/16/2022

Introduction

Asilata Karandikar
Doctoral Student
International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Earlier this year, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) and The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing health futures 2030: Growing up in a digital world (GHFutures2030) launched a call for papers and competition focused on Strengthening Youth-centered Policy and Governance of Digital Transformations in Health.

The special issue and competition seeks to provide young people with agency with respect to digital technologies, and to ensure that digital health governance is co-designed and co-governed for and with youth to drive forward the agenda of achieving health futures for all.

A workshop and two webinars were organized in the lead up to the submission deadline to inspire and help authors with their writing for the call for papers. Below are testimonials of each event by early career participants from around the world. Introduction by Asilata Karandikar.

Science policy paper writing workshop
Watch the workshop here

Monique Mills
Ph.D. candidate
The Jackson Laboratory

What drew you to attend?
I was interested in attending this event to gain insight into how we can communicate our science appropriately to non-scientific audiences in order to advance shared goals of improving digital health policy. Often, we are trained as scientists to communicate through talks of field-specific jargon or scientific journals. There is a need for scientists to be involved in the policy process to learn how to effectively communicate to these non-scientific stakeholders. Training in policy writing and communication to these audiences is often lacking in the standard academic training and I attended this event to improve my understanding of science policy paper writing.

Takeaways from speakers
Whitney Gray introduced the session on science policy paper writing and focused on the need for youth-centered policy and governance of digital transformation in health. Gray is a part of GHFutures2030, which is leading a call to action to address how the development of the digital world can be leveraged to improve the health and wellbeing of youth. The goal of the project is to identify how technologies like artificial intelligence, can be applied in equitable and affordable ways to universally improve health. To address the role of digital technologies as determinants of health, GHFutures2030 partnered with JSPG on a special issue to identify which policies and what research is needed to utilize these technologies to improve health.

Perhaps, like myself, you may be now wondering how can I, as a scientist, write an impactful policy piece? Rohinton P. Medhora, president of the center of international governance innovation and GHFutures2030 Commissioner, discussed the seven traits that can make for an impactful policy piece. Rohinton Medhora’s overarching guidance is to start the policy writing process by identifying the intended audience and goals to be accomplished with the written piece, which can help create a larger impact.

Two other specific traits that make an impactful policy piece, highlighted by Rohinton Medhora, are the need for proper data visualization and understanding how your work contributes to the field. When communicating the importance of your piece, Rohinton Medhora addresses the need for appropriate data visualization for your intended audience. For example, NASA has used maps from space to increase public awareness of climate change by depicting changing landscapes. This form of data visualization has a larger influence on the general population who can quickly see the effect.

The second highlight of Rohinton Medhora’s discussion, knowing how your work fits into the ecosystem of the field, focuses on how a policy piece alone may not be as impactful as an accumulation of evidence over time. For example, we have known tobacco is harmful, but as evidence accumulates the effects of tobacco have begun to be addressed. This means one policy publication on a topic is not an end. The policy publication on a topic is the starting point of compiling information from resources like think tanks and databases, in addition to disseminating the information to build the ecosystem needed for the policy piece to have an impact.

Overall takeaway
To address how technologies can be applied to improve health, we need a better understanding of what policies are needed. For scientists, this means learning how to effectively write impactful policy pieces. An impactful policy piece can include the following seven characteristics: 1) identify the target audience; 2) understand the intended impact and 3) attributions of your piece in the field; 4) use appropriate data visualization; 5) relate to known concepts of your target audience; 6) see your work as part of the policy ecosystem; and 7) be patient with the field and how your piece may be received. Together these characteristics can help create an effective science policy piece.

Webinar: Addressing the role of digital technologies as determinants of health
Watch the webinar here

Jennifer L. Brown
JD, PhD Candidate
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

What drew you to attend?
I was intrigued by the description of the event, which was going to discuss how digital transformations have impacted or could impact health-related fields. For example, how can investments in digital health and the training of the rising health workforce help ensure sustainable development as technology and global situations continue to evolve? These topics are not something my research-based PhD often talks about, and I was interested to learn more.

Takeaways from speakers
Naomi Lee was the moderator, and began by grounding the conversation, describing how research and policy can interact to produce both practical guidelines and key questions to guide future developments. Digital healthcare technology is rapidly evolving and is having a huge impact on society. What exactly is the impact of this digital transformation on society, and how do we make sure that this technological evolution is as equitable and just as possible? Where does technology support health, and where does technology have the potential to harm health?

The panelists for the conversation were Ilona Kickbusch, Chair of the International Advisory Board for the Global Health Centre and Sandra Cortesi, Director of Youth and Media at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, at Harvard University. Sandra is a psychologist by training, with a very international background. She has always been interested in translating research for decision makers in industry and government to help them create policy, which drew her to this field. Ilona similarly credits her interest in working at the interface of academia and social action as influencing her career path. Ilona distilled the essence of the discussion down to a single (albeit broad) question: How do we change our thinking about health‒ distinct from medicine and the health care system‒ and who do we involve in that change?

A question I myself had after the first few minutes of the webinar turned out to be one of the most frequently asked: Why is there such a focus on young people while conducting this research? Ilona and Sandra both provided parts of the answer. Ilona started with population statistics. Looking at the whole world, the majority of low and middle income countries have populations that are young, and those people access the internet more than older age brackets. Young people also make up a large proportion of the healthcare workforce. It is therefore essential that we listen to feedback from this group. The key message from the research focus groups seemed to be that young people are interested in being empowered to access and understand basic health information.

Sandra added that the ways young people use, or are excluded from using, technology has implications for how it should be developed. Sandra continued to mention that access to the internet and healthcare can also be extremely limited in those same countries referenced by Ilona, creating a barrier to health and wellbeing. For example, reproductive healthcare information or access to information about the latest infectious disease outbreak can be constrained by multiple factors that should be considered when thinking of future technology. This is called the digital divide, and references the gap between those who have access to digital skills, technology, and information, and those who do not.

Digital determinants of health, then, are related to the digital divide, and include: who gets information, who can make health appointments, who can see disinformation, who has the power to express their views within their political system, and who can use leisure time to make social connections online. Sandra provided some examples of problems that must be considered by governments that are looking to invest in technological infrastructure. If a person doesn’t have some basic general literacy, it might be difficult to develop health literacy or technology skills, which implicates the education system as a key stakeholder. Likewise, if the technology is too expensive, the people who need it most might not be able to afford it, or might not have access to the internet or to electricity to use the device. Thus, technology itself is just one part of the issue. As Sandra eloquently stated, providing physical infrastructure is not enough without social, cultural and political pieces to ensure that tech is used to empower and not further isolate groups of people from health information.

There were many great questions posed to the panelists, but one I’m sure many of us had was “How can students contribute to this effort and support better health innovation?” The answer was multi-faceted, and since context is important, the best course of action might differ depending on individual situations. Generally, panelists agreed that finding like-minded people to investigate gaps, identifying and contacting allies and key stakeholders, building and mobilizing communities, and translating findings for the public, are all options.

Overall takeaway
Digital divides which can impact access to digital health information include: (1) access to technology; (2) the skill to navigate and understand what is presented; and (3) who has the resources to engage with technology, in terms of time, funding and support. To overcome these digital divides and make future health technologies more equitable, we need multiple stakeholder involvement, and creative thinking to produce solutions. Technology is connected to so many other aspects of life, so while important, alone it is not sufficient to create beneficial change.

Webinar: Governing health data to increase its public value and foster trust
Watch the webinar here

Sarah Ackenhusen
PhD Candidate
University of Michigan

What drew you to attend?
In the COVID age, health data and virtual health appointments are more prevalent than ever. Large datasets on entire populations now exist, but there are few parameters on who and how this data can be used, and who benefits from access to this data. I was drawn to attend this webinar to understand more about the ethical, moral, and practical implications of these large datasets, and how we can responsibly use these data sets to further human health.

Takeaways from speakers
The panel was moderated by Shalin Jyotishi, a senior analyst with Education & Labor at New America. He introduced the call of submissions through identifying the importance of youth and early career perspectives in digital health.

Barbara Prainsack, the head of the political science department at the University of Vienna, was the first to be introduced. She described the concept of “data solidarity”, a term with which I was unfamiliar, defined as the attempt to increase collective solutions rather than increased privatization of individual data. Barbara Prainsack, along with others on the panel, discussed the importance of increasing both the health and monetary public value of data, while improving harm mitigation mechanisms. This balance in allowing data privatization from individuals, while also prioritizing structures that help individuals allow use of their data, would allow for the greatest public value, especially when directing the value gained from the public health data back to the people the data was produced from. She identified how health data can specifically improve people’s lives as an interesting class of topics to write on in this submission cycle, along with what currently prevents the use of the data in this way.

Yawri Carr was next to be introduced, a master’s candidate in responsibility in science, engineering and technology at TU Munchen. Her expertise brought the youth perspective into the conversation, and she was excited about the inclusion and empowerment of youth in bridging innovation and governance. Yawri identified the importance of the youth perspective in this conversation as youth have only lived in the digital age, while also highlighting that legislators and those leading these conversations need to reach out to youth more in spaces in which they are most familiar. For example, she identified that the Governing Health commission has a Facebook page for engaging with younger generations. One way she highlighted to identify a topic for this submission cycle is to identify what worries authors on what government or companies are currently doing.

Andrzej Rys brought a governmental perspective as the next panelist. He is currently the director of health systems, medical products, and innovation at DG SANTE, as well as a Global Health Futures 2030 (GHFutures2030) Commissioner. His comments on this panel mostly focused on his role as a commission and digital health regulator in Europe, identifying the importance of explaining regulations to the public. Much of the trust in the government has been lost in recent years, and this impacts human health. The GHFutures2030 is looking to combat this distrust and make a recommendation for a public health architecture, specifically identifying the differences between our analog and digital world, and focusing on human rights, equity, democracy and solidarity principles. They highlight public value, similar to Dr. Prainsack’s comments, as the most important metric, striking a balance between the public and private sectors. When asked about which topics could be interesting to include in this issue, Dr. Rys identified topics surrounding new digital products increasing access to human health: how much are these products aiding human health and which ways are they harming it?

Our final panelist was Marwa Azelmat, a digital rights expert with RNW Media, who focuses on entrenched systems of inequalities in digital rights. She also highlighted the importance of public value, especially in relation to structurally marginalized communities. These marginalized communities were discussed not only along traditional racial and gender based lines, but also in the drastic differences in internet access across the world. One unique perspective she provided was in the characterization of all youth being “plugged in” to the internet—identifying that many communities of young people are still searching for affordable internet. As well as emphasizing the importance of intersectionality in this discussion, Marwa discussed the difficulties in increasing public value, including the governing of big tech, combatting disinformation campaigns, and the growing wage gap affected by technological advancement. In addition, in concert with the discussion of disinformation, she focused on the loss of civic space as our world moves online—that our online regulations (self- and industry-made) results in a surveillance state that often shuts down the voices of marginalized communities. This conversation led to her recommendation for a topic for submission: the use of surveillance practices and algorithmic discrimination by companies for profit.

Overall takeaway
Each speaker emphasized the importance of public value in making decisions surrounding the governance of public health data, as well as the importance of including youth perspectives in decisions surrounding governance. The careful re-establishment of trust in governance through education and data-ownership, along with responsibly managed public data, were all deemed essential in this discussion. The panel also emphasized governance that focuses on incentive structures that aid public health and limits harms, while allowing for innovation and privacy. Overall, the speakers did a wonderful job at comprehensively addressing this issue, and I would highly recommend giving it a watch before finalizing your submission for this month’s call!

Closing

Chidinma Oli
Masters Student, Public health
University of York
United Kingdom

Overall, the events emphasized strengthening youth-centered policy and governance of digital transformations in health. In these events, speakers highlighted key challenges to leveraging the diverse opportunities that digital health provides, reviewed the determinants of digital health and showed how a clear understanding of their impacts can strengthen digital transformations in health. Further, the speakers emphasized the importance of establishing public trust through transparency and adequate governance that allows for digital security, while maximizing innovation. The workshop was phenomenal and the webinar sessions were enlightening, with an opportunity to discuss a range of issues and proffer plausible solutions for better youth engagement and governance of digital transformation relevant to stimulating youth interest and gaining traction for digital innovation and transformation. Submit your ideas to this special issue of JSPG! Closing by Chidinma Oli.

Post compiled and edited by Adriana Bankston.

JSPG Celebrates the Newly Established Graduate Student Caucus

7/14/2022

As an organization focused on early career researchers and their engagement in policymaking, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) celebrates the newly established bipartisan Graduate Research and Development Caucus (GRAD Caucus).

The GRAD Caucus is dedicated to the needs of graduate students across the nation, highlighting the “unique and critical role that graduate researchers play in innovation, education, and bolstering our economy.” The launch event took place on Capitol Hill this week.

Despite the importance of graduate students in driving innovative research and teaching, little attention has traditionally been paid to the needs of this population at the federal policy level. The GRAD Caucus has the potential to change that narrative.

Led by Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA-18), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19), and Stephanie Bice (R-OK-5), the GRAD Caucus is the latest development that Washington can use to expand mental health support in academia, improve pay and job quality, and enhance graduate-level training, mentoring, and career preparation for graduate students.

JSPG recently published a special issue on STEM education & workforce development, which is in alignment with policy changes highlighted by the GRAD Caucus to support graduate students.

The initial one-pager outlined three focus areas for the GRAD Caucus:

Engage the full talent pool: Ensure accessibility to graduate school for people of all backgrounds including underrepresented minorities, rural students, and international scholars.
Support and develop graduate researchers: Improve mentorship and advising, fund fellowships and traineeships, and promote holistic growth and well-being.
Provide pathways for future impact: Expand opportunities and pathways for these researchers to apply their unique skills to further support society and tackle national challenges post-graduate school.

Spearheaded by graduate student leaders at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with efforts starting in 2019, the GRAD Caucus aims to provide legislators with briefings on specific policies and programs, connections to graduate researchers, and a forum to advance policy ideas.

Graduate student leaders who spearheaded the GRAD Caucus explained their goals. “We wanted to expand education for members of Congress and staff on what graduate students do,” says Divyansh Kaushik, a PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University and President of the university's Graduate Student Assembly. Connect with Divyansh on Twitter.

Benjamin Lane, Doctoral Candidate and Chair of the External Affairs Board for the MIT Graduate Student Council, hopes the GRAD Caucus will “create a more direct link between graduate students and legislators to start addressing the systemic problems in graduate education and research.” Connect with Benjamin on Twitter.

As the GRAD Caucus activities unfold over the coming months, we look forward to engaging with their efforts to support graduate students across the nation in a number of policy areas.

Post written by JSPG CEO Adriana Bankston.

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About JSPG
The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) is an international, open access peer-reviewed publication managed by and for students, policy fellows, and young scholars in science, technology, and innovation policy. JSPG publishes high-quality articles covering the widest range of topics in formats that are accessible to policymakers. Since 2011, JSPG has served as a vehicle for students and early career researchers to bolster their research and writing credentials in science policy. Visit sciencepolicyjournal.org and follow on Twitter @SciPolJournal to learn more.

JSPG CELEBRATES 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

6/25/2022

MEDIA CONTACT

Journal of Science Policy & Governance
André Porter
[email protected]
(202) 730-9502

Washington, DC (June 25, 2022) – Today, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) celebrates 10 years since its inception as a non-profit organization. Countless individuals have contributed to the success of JSPG, and we thank them for their dedication to our mission of empowering the next generation in science policy.

View the anniversary page

To our authors, thank you for your confidence in the journal and we are excited to be able to offer this platform for you in science policy. To our founder, volunteer staff, editors and editorial leadership, as well as senior advisors, governing and advisory board members, we appreciate all of your help and contributions. We wouldn’t be here without each and every one of you.

We would also like to thank our international partners and sponsors who have worked with JSPG over the years and share our mission. It is exciting to look back through our volumes and realize the number of early career authors from several parts of the world who have published in JSPG over these 10 years, on a diversity of timely and relevant topics.

While publishing our issues will continue, we are also shifting our focus towards broader international expansion, becoming a more data-driven organization, and driving actionable policy change through published work. At the same time, we will continue to provide professional development opportunities for published authors in science policy.

As detailed in a previous post, JSPG has expanded offerings beyond publications into professional development, including workshops and webinars, as well as through the editorial board. We have also engaged in efforts to promote published work through speaking engagements, our new pilot ambassador program and other training initiatives.

I’m excited to report that we have been able to make some headway into our goals to expand internationally, as well as to take published ideas into action. But we have more work to do and look forward to future opportunities to partner with established organizations in this space.

As we reflect on the past and present, and look to the future, we developed this page to share a few of our successes with the community, as it relates to our data collection efforts and additional highlights. Stay tuned for more to come as we continue to celebrate this anniversary.

At the same time, as we are a volunteer organization, we would ask that you continue to stay involved with JSPG to help us achieve our future goals in the next 10 years. We would invite you to donate at this link to help us continue empowering early career authors worldwide and facilitating their engagement in science policy at all levels of government.

I am personally very honored to be able to lead JSPG at this critical point in time, and especially on the occasion of our 10 year anniversary. I would like to thank those who have stepped up to help the organization from the beginning, and those who continue to support our mission moving forward as we expand our reach internationally.

I am looking forward to our continued collaborations and growth of a joint science policy community that is focused on building the next generation of leaders in this space. Thank you for being part of our celebrations this year!

With gratitude,
Adriana Bankston
JSPG CEO & Managing Publisher

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ABOUT JSPG
The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) is an international, open access peer-reviewed publication managed by and for students, policy fellows, and young scholars in science, technology, and innovation policy. JSPG publishes high-quality articles covering the widest range of topics in formats that are accessible to policymakers. Since 2011, JSPG has served as a vehicle for students and early career researchers to bolster their research and writing credentials in science policy. Visit sciencepolicyjournal.org and follow on Twitter @SciPolJournal to learn more.

Science policy in action: Expanding Access to and Ensuring Equity in the Benefits of Remote Work Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

5/28/2022

Pictured from left to right is Tamara Savage, Ashley Orr, and Ben Ashman
(AAAS Fellow with Sen. Sherrod Brown, OH) at the Hart Senate Office Building.

Introduction and framing

The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) is a 501-c3 non-profit organization based in the United States and an internationally recognized, open-access, peer-reviewed publication dedicated to elevating students, post-docs, policy fellows and young scholars in science, technology and innovation policy and governance debate worldwide. Our mission doesn't begin and end with publication of our volumes. Through national and international partnerships, collaborations, and outreach, JSPG seeks to elevate the visibility and enhance the skills of young scholars in science policy and governance.

To this end, we are looking to elevate published work and to showcase ideas published in JSPG in a number of outlets that highlight policy in action. In September 2021, JSPG partnered with the National Science Policy Network (NSPN) to produce a Special Issue on Intersectional Science Policy together with Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), 500 Women Scientists and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

The Special Issue focused on a number of aspects related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in science and policy. One of the published memos in the Special Issue, Expanding Access to and Ensuring Equity in the Benefits of Remote Work Following the COVID-19 Pandemic, was co-authored by Ashley E. Orr and Tamara Savage, Ph.D. students at Carnegie Mellon University. The publication calls for Congress to address inequities related to remote work access via expansion of the Telework Enhancement Act. Read the publication here.

Taking published work into action

The publication ideas were taken into action through funding provided by NSPN to published authors as part of the Special Issue’s contract. To this end, Ashley and Tamara traveled to Washington, D.C. in spring 2022 to discuss their publication with policy makers and local academics, which is a great example of making published ideas relevant to the current policy landscape. Below is their assessment of the trip to DC, in their own words, with a few indicated highlights.

In advance of the meetings, we shared the DOI for the memo and indicated we would center our discussion around policies which promote equity in a future of work which leverages remote and hybrid modalities. We were delighted that several of the congressional staffers carefully read the memo in advance of our meetings. They used some of the time in our meetings to ask questions about our research and related policies their Members are advocating for and working on.

Our meetings included congressional staffers from Offices of Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH), Sen. Bob Casey (PA), Rep. Mike Doyle (PA), Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA), and a White House COVID policy advisor. During these meetings we presented the findings of our research paper with respect to technology enabling remote work's adoption during the pandemic. We discussed the benefits for the workers and firms, while drawing attention to equity considerations in access to remote work. We acknowledged, for instance, how higher educated knowledge workers are more able to work remotely and how remote work requires workers to have reliable high speed internet.

Informed in part by what each member of Congress was currently working on, we advocated for expanded high speed internet access, workers’ rights, and workers’ protections. We discussed the Schedules that Work Act, the Part Time Workers Bill of Rights, and expansions of tax incentives for hiring workers with disabilities, among other related policies. We also discussed the Federal Telework Enhancement Act, the key policy prescription from our memo, and how provision of remote work opportunities is important to maintain the competitiveness of federal jobs and even recruit technology workers into new government roles with the US Digital Service, for instance.

This trip allowed Tamara and I to practice sharing our research succinctly, an important science policy communication skill. Planning for the meetings allowed us to go beyond our memo’s main policy idea of expanding the Federal Telework Enhancement Act to all firms and to advocate for a menu of policies which collectively seek to address equity in engagement with remote work. We learned more about how policy makers may consider leveraging the tax code to incentivize employers, rather than setting regulations (which may be less politically feasible). We also met with Professor Leah Brooks from George Washington University, who similarly researches remote work, and discussed future research in this area which considers how and to what extent remote work opportunities may address pay gaps and promote labor market inclusion of disadvantaged groups- follow us for more to come on that!

The publication’s content will also be presented virtually at the upcoming Graduate Career Consortium Conference on Future of Work in June 2022, in the format of a lightning talk titled Policy Changes for a More Equitable Future of Remote Work during a session on Fostering DEI & Social Impact. Learn more about conference here.

Note: JSPG is a non-partisan organization and the goals of taking published work into action are purely educational and meant to advance the policy ideas of the next generation into action for their own training and professional development.

Blog post written by Ashley Orr and Tamara Savage, with introductions from Adriana Bankston. Connect with Ashley Orr (LinkedIn, Twitter) and Tamara Savage (LinkedIn, Twitter) to talk more about their JSPG published work.

Lessons Learned From My First Year as JSPG CEO

5/3/2022

Written by Adriana Bankston

A Personal Perspective

This time last year, I was embarking on what would be my greatest adventure yet as the third CEO of JSPG. This has been a great opportunity to make a difference in something that I’m really passionate about, and I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. On the flip side, being a first time CEO, nothing could have prepared me for all the aspects of this role. In some ways, you have to be doing the job itself in order to understand what it takes to do it, while you are also learning on your feet as a new leader.

READ POST 2 >>

I have to admit that, a year ago, while I craved the challenge, deep down I was unsure if I could do it well. But I believe that if something is a bit scary but you know it’s good for you, you should say yes and figure out how to do it later. I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Most immediately after taking on the role, I felt a sense of responsibility to do a good job and continue the path placed before me by those I looked up to. But I realized that this was my opportunity to make a mark, and that I should reflect on what I wanted my legacy to be.

Leadership in itself is a privilege, and provides the opportunity to significantly impact the lives of those you work with, mentor, train and interact with. Realizing that everyone looks to you for direction is both incredibly exciting and daunting at the same time. During this time, I reflected on how I could build a positive environment for those in my supervision at the journal. There is a balance of driving towards a common vision, while understanding why others would choose to follow you and their motivations to stay.

Looking back, I gained some really valuable insights about myself as a leader through this experience. I still spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a good leader and how that aligns with my own values and with those of the organization. By way of wrapping up this introduction, personally I have felt that being a female CEO comes with its own challenges to overcome as women are still underrepresented in leadership roles. I hope to inspire young women who may be thinking about these roles to put their name forward.

Lessons Learned

This past year in many ways has felt like climbing a mountain, leaving the unknown behind and looking over new horizons for opportunities. But also, this has been very much going between peaks and valleys with ups and downs. I wanted to impart a few lessons learned:

Challenge yourself and dream big. Facing some of your (or in my case, many) fears - fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of not being liked - is probably the number one skill that you need to succeed as CEO. Challenging yourself to be better today than you were yesterday goes a long way, and don’t try to compare yourself to others. Dreaming big, and finding people who can support those dreams, is key to success. Have trusted advisers who can provide input on your ideas. Surround yourself with people you trust who will champion your cause but also steer you away from making the wrong decision.

Be focused, but flexible. As a CEO, you will make many mistakes (I certainly have), and you should be prepared to be knocked down potentially multiple times a day. Reflect on it, but then keep going. Perseverance goes a long way in achieving your goals, as does having an unwavering focus on the mission of the organization. At the same time, knowing when to pivot into a new direction, and being flexible while looking for other opportunities is equally important. Learning to be thick-skinned in the face of criticism, and realizing that not everyone will agree with your decisions, is also part of the job.

Build a trusted team and positive environment. Establishing a strong reputation as a leader in the field, but also building that sense of mutual loyalty with your team are both important aspects of being successful as a CEO. I have enjoyed learning how to lead and supervise others in ways that fulfill our mission while creating an atmosphere of growth and learning as a team. I was also lucky enough to be able to hire people smarter than me, whose ideas can drive the overall success of our initiatives.

Know yourself and do your thing. As a new leader, it is normal to feel pressure stepping into someone else’s shoes. But it is also useful to think about how to use this opportunity for the greater good. Get to know yourself and your leadership style, and ask yourself what kind of leader you want to be. Try to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and bring on people who can help move things in particular directions. And importantly, no matter what has taken place before you, this is your time to shine, so do your thing! Be genuine and let your passions drive things forward as a leader.

Be organized and prepare for the unexpected. The skill of being organized and having effective time management skills cannot be overstated, as is realizing that sometimes less is more. Focus on significant opportunities that provide sufficient ROI when deciding what to invest your time and resources in. Embarking on small projects can sometimes be important as a stepping stone into larger opportunities, and being ready to pivot in another direction is also important to be able to do.

Take time to think and reflect. As a leader, you will have to make many decisions on any given day, sometimes very quickly. But there is also value in pausing and reflecting before you respond, especially when it comes to big decisions that will significantly shift the organization’s direction. I learned that waiting for 24 hours to respond to an email that needs more reflection is really valuable in the long run.

One thing I wish I had done as a leader is to seek out additional mentors early on, or join a leadership peer group to learn more about how to drive change. Overtime, I have sought to educate myself on leadership through articles, books and other programs, while also recognizing that working on your leadership skills is a life-long learning process.

Today, I couldn’t be more proud of what JSPG has accomplished as an organization, and I thank all those who have believed in my abilities to lead when I didn’t believe in myself. I’ve certainly gained more confidence in myself through this role and I am a much stronger leader than I was a year ago. I hope that I’ve made our boards and advisors proud this year, and I’m looking forward to the future. Read the second post for more!

Driving Change in Science Policy Publishing, Research & Writing THROUGH JSPG

5/3/2022

Written by Adriana Bankston

I hope that what we have accomplished this past year as an organization will encourage others to step out of their comfort zone and follow their own path towards something they care about.

— Adriana Bankston, CEO & Managing Publisher, Journal of Science Policy & Governance

In the previous post, I focused on my own personal perspectives on leading JSPG, and how I navigated being a first time CEO. I realized that passion is really a driving force for me, and JSPG has provided that opportunity for me to find something that really gets me up in the morning and makes me want to continue going even when things are tough.

READ POST 1 >>

The idea of driving change itself is important to define for a given organization. What drives you as a leader to make change, and what kind of change do you want to see? Sometimes this means having a very focused direction, and saying no to many other things. In addition to having a limited time within any given leadership role, thinking about what you want your legacy to be is important.

I am privileged to lead the journal at a time when we are approaching JSPG’s 10 year anniversary, which provides opportunities to highlight our accomplishments. In the past couple of years, we have grown considerably in terms of the number of volumes published, ways to showcase published authors at events and in the media, spoken about JSPG in various avenues, and expanded internationally in many aspects.

A few things I’m proud of as an organization include:

Establishing international partnerships for several special issues this year
Translating a published article into other languages, expanding from English
Increasing opportunities for the editorial board with additional rounds of applications
Growing our science policy podcast to showcase published work
Offering international science policy trainings with collaborators
Engaging trainees in workshops and webinars on science policy topics
Making published work more visible and actionable in the community
Engaging with university and media outlets to highlight published work

Many of these areas are a work in progress, and without a doubt will need improvements in the future. But I also hope that these efforts provide opportunities for the next generation to publish in the journal and to take their JSPG experiences into the future, while taking advantage of professional development opportunities in science policy.

Finally, I’m also personally proud to have spoken at meaningful forums about policies to support early career researchers, and for the opportunity to delve more deeply into developing the future science policy workforce through a fellowship awarded this year.

I’ve felt deeply honored for the opportunity to serve as JSPG CEO over this past year and look forward to the future. I also hope that what we have accomplished this past year as an organization will encourage others to step out of their comfort zone and follow their own path towards something they care about.

Stay tuned for more to come with and around our anniversary celebrations this year! Stay in touch with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news and opportunities.

WORKSHOP RECAP: JSPG, ASU CSI and UK SIN Collaborative Workshop on Re-imagining Climate Futures

2/28/2022

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Introduction and context
On September 7, 2021, the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG), in partnership with UK Science and Innovation Network and the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University (CSI) organized a workshop on re-imagining positive climate futures, geared towards early career researchers interested in writing about climate change solutions.

The event featured authors who had previously published in JSPG’s climate special issue on climate change solutions sponsored by UK SIN. Authors discussed these topics with ASU CSI's Climate Imagination Fellows, who are talented authors from around the world working on creating stories that envision positive, and scientifically grounded climate futures designed to inspire climate action and efforts for greater resilience by policymakers and other governing bodies.

While this event was leading up to the COP26 conference, the topic of climate resilience is an evergreen topic to discuss and highlight ways to create better futures, in particular with the release of the recent IPCC climate report and the COP27 conference coming up later this year.

Event recap
For this event, Emily Cloke, British Consul General in Los Angeles, covered the UK’s key goals for COP26 and actions taken by the UK towards net zero, as well as plans by the British Consulate in Los Angeles ahead of last year’s conference.

Joey Eschrich, editor and program manager at CSI, moderated a panel discussion with CSI Fellows Libia Brenda, Hannah Onoguwe and Vandana Singh (read more about their work). Panelists discussed how to tell a story that responds to local challenges and climate issues, but also speaks to people around the world, and how to get inspired to write fiction about the climate crisis.

Published authors from the JSPG/UK-SIN climate special issue participated in subsequent discussions related to the workshop theme, including:

Alexandra Johnson from the University of California, Berkeley & Kavitha Chintam from Northwestern University (publication)
Clara Tibbets from the Colorado State University (publication)
Deb Morrison from the University of Washington and the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (publication)
Wesley Chiang & Khang Huynh from the University of Rochester (publication)

READ THE CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS SPECIAL ISSUE

In breakout rooms, workshop participants created their own narratives on climate change policy solutions focused on: climate migration and displacement; advocacy and coalition building; and transforming institutions and industries. CSI fellows, along with published authors from the special issue and other participants, worked on a quick story generation process that involved imagining a realistic real-world setting for climate action, a focal character who represents a community or group of stakeholders, and a conflict animated by divergent visions for the climate future of that setting. Based on the foundation of articles from the special issue, groups explored themes and points of conflict about science, technology, policy, and values that are global in scope, but also play out in complex and diverse ways in different physical and human geographies. In the end, published authors and other early career participants learned about process and improvisation and modeling a way of thinking about imagining positive climate futures.

Interested in partnering on future events with JSPG? Contact CEO Adriana Bankston at [email protected].

Post written by Adriana Bankston & Joey Eschrich.

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WORKSHOP RECAP: JSPG, GPS-STEM & SAi Collaborative Workshop on Creating Actionable Change for STEM Education & Workforce Development

1/16/2022

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Introduction
On November 12, 2021, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) in collaboration with Graduate Professional Success in STEM program (GPS-STEM) at UC Irvine and the STEM Advocacy Institute (SAi) organized a workshop on Creating actionable change for STEM education and workforce development. The workshop was focused on discussing ways to support the next generation of scientists who encounter STEM education and training, help them achieve their potential in science and utilize their talents in society. The event featured Dr. Gary McDowell, CEO of Lightoller, LLC and Co-Founder of Future of Research. Watch the event recording here. This workshop is leading up to the JSPG-Sigma Xi call for papers for a Special Issue on Re-envisioning STEM Education and Workforce Development for the 21st Century with a deadline of January 23, 2022, which is a great opportunity for the next generation to shape policy change on this topic.

Context setting
The U.S. prides itself on the quality of STEM education and training that it provides. But is STEM education and workforce development in the U.S. meeting society’s needs? In particular, are we focusing enough on the people in the system, as well as the outputs they produce? In this session, we wanted to reframe how we envision the future of the research enterprise, and to think more about the individuals who pass through the system who make up the STEM workforce. A NASEM committee produced the most recent report on graduate STEM education, noting that while graduate education works well for funding agencies, institutions, and professors, but that it benefits graduate students least. And while the system may to an extent benefit a proportion of graduate students who are staying in academia, it is debatable whether the system works even for those who stay. This is because the system does not train the next generation on skills they will need to run their own laboratories in the future. And while graduate and postdoctoral training is focused on getting the practical work done from trainees on grants, studies of what happens to those in training roles during and after these positions is poorly studied and unintentional (or at best passive). We need to think more deeply about how we can use the wealth of talent passing through our universities to maximize solving society’s problems while advocating for necessary systemic change.

Background
During the registration process, we asked early career researchers (ECRs) to describe one aspect of the current STEM educational system that bothers them, and to propose some changes they would like to see as context setting for the discussion. The results are shown below in Table 1, and focus on a number of areas including the lack of career and training opportunities, lack of breadth in training for ways to address societal impact, and other issues inherent to the system itself including low salaries and issues with lack of diversity in STEM.

TABLE 1 - PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Within the event itself, attendees expressed concern with the current state of affairs of STEM education and workforce development by pointing out the areas where early career researchers face challenges. These include lack of mentoring from faculty, as well as power dynamics, in addition to low salaries and lack of avenues for career and professional development (Figure 1).

What are problems with how we currently carry out STEM education and workforce development? Post it nots with answers.

Breakout summaries
Following a presentation by Dr. Gary McDowell, in the breakout rooms, participants dissected some of these topics and discussed more in-depth the problems and solutions to the system in four different areas. The sections below summarize discussions that took place in the breakout rooms.

1. Value of STEM pipeline and potential
Background:

The training one receives through a STEM education prepares them for a multitude of careers. What would the STEM workforce look like if we prioritized people and focused on helping them reach their potential? How efficient is current STEM job training?

Problems:

STEM training often prioritizes outputs rather than people. Producing science and literature is deemed more valuable rather than effectively training STEM professionals for a wide array of careers.
There is a lack of training for STEM professionals on industry-specific skills, and most STEM graduates are not ready for industry and must be retrained for their job. Education should focus on industry–specific skills to best prepare graduates for success in the field.
PhD STEM students are research-oriented and often lack practical skills that are essential in the workplace.

Solutions:

STEM training should prioritize real-world skills translatable across industries, as efficient job training includes teaching STEM students skills that will be used in the workplace.
STEM graduates can fill local workforce gaps if trained properly. This does occur in some universities with strong connections to industry.
Training STEM students should include work with industry partners to help develop a strong STEM pipeline and give students practical skills.

2. Scientific literacy and how the scientific process works
Background:

Scientific literacy implies an understanding of the process and limitations of science along with knowledge of broad scientific ideas. To understand literacy, we must clarify the goal of science education: is it to train more scientists and/or help the public understand the relevance of science in their lives and be more engaged with science?

Problems:

Science education is often de-contextualized and irrelevant to the individual. If problems do not apply to an individual's life or don't feel connected to their understanding of science and how it applies to their lives, they will not be interested in science.
Scientists are often separated from the general community.

Solutions:

We need strategies to help scientists be more involved in scientific literacy, and we can increase scientific literacy by helping the general public become "competent outsiders" by increasing the relevancy of science to each individuals' daily life.
By helping students understand the peer review process, how scientific questions evolve, we can help students become scientifically literate.
Scientists could help by being more approachable, improving their communication skills, and discussing their science with the public as a process, maybe even presenting to students how scientific questions evolve by trial and error.
Scientists should support teachers in the goal of increasing scientific literacy and understanding the process of science. We can invite teachers and students to do research in laboratories and engage with authentic questions to understand how scientific questions are developed.

3. Value of peer review and relationship to identity as a scientist
Background:

For many researchers, the transition in identity from “student” to “scientist” often happens during graduate school. Skills and knowledge gained during this time that facilitate this transition include conducting independent research and providing feedback on scholarly articles.

Problems:

Peer review is critical for their training, but lack of involvement of the next generation in peer review, or lack of recognition for such contributions need to be addressed. A recent survey of ECR peer review experiences indicates that, when carrying out journal article peer review with their principal investigator, 46% of ECRs knew that their name was withheld from the editorial staff, 23% knew their name was provided, and 32% did not know whether their name was disclosed.
This may impede professional development for early career researchers (ECR) and their scientific identity which may revolve around this and other academic research deliverables, such as publications and conference posters.
Accordingly, while ECRs may begin to identify as a scientist upon completion of these products, they may lose this identity upon leaving academia.

Solutions:

For those ECRs wishing to continue on the academic track, postdoctoral fellowship programs that provide a pathway for transition to faculty positions can provide some stability to the postdoc outlook.
For scientists who choose to pursue careers in the private, nonprofit, and public sectors, staying involved in professional societies can help preserve one’s identity as a scientist by remaining connected to science.

4. Exposure of trainees to STEM for addressing societal issues
Background:

Issues related to lack of exposure to STEM combine to result in a lack of clarity on the goal of STEM education. Given that less than 10% of students who begin their PhD will end up in tenure-track positions, it is unrealistic to continue training PhD students solely as if they will end up in academia.

Problems:

As noted in one of the NASEM reports on this topic, the training received by STEM PhD candidates largely prepares them for benchwork but not to be a faculty member or transition to any other career field.
The strictly skills-based technical training undergone by most PhD students does not offer support for societal engagement.
PhD students interested in pathways outside of academia are less frequently exposed to such opportunities or may be actively discouraged from pursuing them. Therefore, trainees also lack opportunities for societal engagement.
These problems are intertwined with research culture, such that if a faculty member reinforces stigma against career pathways outside of academia, this may eventually perpetuate across generations.

Solutions:

Engaging in advocacy for the research enterprise or even being able to think critically about it as it relates to societal relevance are both valuable goals and additions for ECRs to engage in.
Individual actions of PhD students in the community can raise awareness and acceptance of activities that involve societal engagement. Support networks in science policy can connect STEM students to the real world and expose them to opportunities outside the academic track.
Potential structural changes are beneficial, such as allocating funding based on how many PhD trainees are in a lab, as opposed to funding the faculty member, lab, or project directly, which can limit opportunities for trainees to pursue projects of interest.
Further, the process maintains the threat of losing funding should a trainee decide to pursue a pathway that the faculty member sees as nontraditional. This funding strategy could go hand in hand with funding targeted at trainees who need more support who may not stay in academia.

Overall conclusions
Many common problems and solutions have emerged from these discussions, which point to valuable changes that need to be made in the system to support the next generation. These revolve around a number of areas that point to issues related a system that does not train the next generation on ways to manage a laboratory or team of people, or budgets, or multi-personnel projects: we teach people how to do benchwork to a high degree of skill, and then expect them to just pivot to a completely different role as a faculty member. Because the unstated, but clear, goal of graduate and postdoctoral training is to get the practical work done that people have written into their grants, what happens to those in training roles during and after these positions is poorly studied and unintentional (or at best passive), meaning that we are not thinking about how we can use the wealth of talent passing through our institutions to maximize solving society’s problems. Ultimately, these discussions concluded that we need workforce development focused on the trainees as people, not just vessels for research output. The call to action includes more funding and pathways for trainees and faculty wishing to develop and pursue non academic track ventures towards social impact, such as science engagement and informal STEM initiatives that can help. But there is also a broader call to action warranted here whereas several stakeholders, including universities, need to act in ensuring that our next generation workforce is successful in society.

Resources
For further reading or information, we have compiled a list of resources for ECRs to utilize, and for others who wish to think more about actions to take in improving the research enterprise. You can download the document below.

RESOURCES

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About JSPG
The Journal of Science Policy & Governance is a nonprofit organization and open-access peer-reviewed publication managed by and for students, policy fellows and young scholars in science, technology and innovation policy. JSPG publishes high-quality articles covering the widest range of topics in formats that are accessible to policymakers. Since 2011, JSPG has served as a vehicle for students and early career researchers to bolster their research and writing credentials in science policy. Visit sciencepolicyjournal.org and follow on Twitter @SciPolJournal to learn more.

About GPS-STEM
The Graduate Professional Success in STEM program (GPS-STEM) at University of California Irvine aims to better prepare graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for a variety of careers within the STEM research workforce, and empower trainees to become not only skilled scientists, but also polished professionals. The program was funded from 2014 – 2019 by the NIH-BEST (Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training) grant for providing career & professional development avenues for STEM trainees. Visit https://gps-stem.grad.uci.edu and follow on Twitter @BiomedGps to learn more.

About SAi
The mission of the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Advocacy Institute (also known as the Science Advocacy Institute or SAi) is to provide access to research, infrastructure, mentorship, community, training, and funding to, put simply, make it easier for diverse founders and leaders to experiment, explore and ultimately build impactful and sustainable informal STEM learning (ISL) programs that strengthen the connections between people and science. Visit https://stemadvocacy.org and follow on Twitter @STEMadvocacy to learn more.

About Lightoller LLC
Lightoller LLC is a consultancy providing research expertise on the early career researcher population. Visit https://lightoller.org and follow on Twitter @Lightoller_llc to learn more.

This post was co-authored by Adriana Bankston (JSPG); Harinder Singh (GPS-STEM); Fanuel Muindi, Erin Saybolt, Moraima Castro-Faix, Nicole Catanzarite, Gwendolyn Bogard (SAi); and Gary McDowell (Lightoller LLC).

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[YEAR 1 Recap] JSPG’s Leadership Fireside Chat Series, Launched Summer 2021

12/22/2021

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JSPG leadership chat series: 2021 recap. Virtual fireside chat. Headshots of Adriana Bankston, Toby Smith, Shalin Jyotishi, Mehrdad Hariri, Lida Beninson. Description of series with website, twitter handles and logos (JSPG, STEMPeers).

Since its establishment 10 years ago, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) has been instrumental in elevating the voices of early career researchers in science, technology and innovation policy. The leadership within this organization have been key to pushing forward the goals and the mission of the journal.

In 2021, JSPG launched the Leadership Chat Series to speak directly with those leaders who helped and continue to support the success of the journal, to hear about their experiences with the journal and ways in which JSPG can help early career scholars hone their research and writing skills and progress in their career advancement by publishing in the journal. The series is supported by STEMPeers.

The JSPG leadership chat series so far has featured leadership staff, including the journal’s CEO and managing publisher Adriana Bankston and distinguished members of the JSPG Governing Board who support the journal in outreach, development, partnerships, and strategic planning. This series provided a platform for our leaders to expand on their knowledge and help elevate JSPG’s mission internationally, and was one of the initial projects spearheaded by JSPG’s current CEO.

In August of this year we first heard from Adriana Bankston, 100 days into her new role as JSPG CEO and Managing Publisher. Adriana Bankston shared her vision for the journal under her tenure and as we move into the new decade. The journal has experienced so much growth over the past several years and what’s unique about the journal, as well as key to its continued success, is being a vehicle to publishing policy work from early career researchers. JSPG has been publishing for an entire decade and our most recent issue highlighted that milestone. Adriana hopes that over the next decade JSPG will continue to reach broader audiences including expanding internationally and elevate our authors' published works to higher platforms.

Our second discussion featured JSPG Governing Board Member Toby Smith, and centered around how early career researchers can help shape the future of science policy. This chat highlighted our recently published Special Issue: Shaping the Future of Science Policy in partnership with AAAS and sponsored by the Kavli Foundation. Throughout Toby’s career he has been in position to witness the impact of early career researchers on science policy, and he shared many of those experiences in depth during our very insightful chat.

Following our chat with Toby, we next talked with JSPG Governing Board Member, Merhdad Hariri. This conversation was focused around our published Special Issue: Intersectional Science Policy sponsored by the National Science Policy Network, covering the intersection between diversity, equity, inclusion and science policy. There is still so much work to do in this area, but diversity must remain a top priority for our work in science policy.

The next two chats featuring JSPG Senior Advisor Shalin Jyotishi and Governing Board Member Lida Beninson were very focused on policy making around STEM education and workforce development. In conjunction with the journal’s call for papers for our Special Issue: Re-envisioning STEM Education and Workforce Development for the 21st Century (submit to the issue by January 23, 2022!), we highlighted during each chat ways that STEM education and workforce policies can be reformed to support a more robust workforce, and expanded upon pathways into the workforce from the expertise of the speakers. In addition, we discussed how STEM education can better align with the labor market for K-12, community college, and higher education sectors to support the current and future workforce. To learn more about this topic, read the blog post written by early career researchers who attended events leading up to the special issue submission deadline.

So far in this series, all the Leadership Chats have had one thing in common, and that is to emphasize the impact that early career researchers can have on science, technology and innovation policy no matter where they are in their careers. Whether someone is an undergraduate, graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, policy fellow or early career professional they can have a voice and contribute to the changes they would like to see in policy.

JSPG continues to be an innovative, relevant and timely vehicle to elevate the voices of early career researchers in policy making through substantial engagement in policy research, writing and editing. Over the next decade, JSPG will continue to serve in this role and with the support of our distinguished leaders, we hope to impact future generations around the world and contribute to building the next generation of science policy leaders.

Learn more about the Leadership Fireside Chat Series here and watch all the chats here. Stay tuned for future chats in 2022!

Post written and compiled by Nicole Parker, JSPG’s Director of U.S. Outreach, who led the planning, organizing and execution of the chat series this year. Edited by JSPG CEO, Adriana Bankston.

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