Abstract
Studies on integrated STEM education and the integration of engineering practices into the instruction of science have called for the need to better understand the similarities, differences and interrelations between science and engineering, as well the naïve views often associated with them. The current study contributes to this scholarly work through a systematic examination of the ways in which scientists and engineers are stereotypically described in jokes. An iterative content analysis of 68 different jokes about scientists and engineers was conducted, complemented by quantitative analysis of variants on these jokes (N = 1022), which examined the distribution of stereotypical attributes found across protagonists’ (N = 1449) identities, and the distribution of the professional identity of the protagonists (scientist, engineer, other) across gender. The analysis yielded three thematic clusters of stereotypical attributes: (1) approach to tasks, problems and challenges, (2) awareness of, dealing with, and causing errors and imprecision, and (3) personality and social positioning. While the findings highlight some similarities between the stereotypical descriptions of scientists and engineers in jokes, each cluster has categories that capture specific differences between the stereotypical attributes associated with scientists as compared to engineers. In addition, an underlying perception of engineering as a masculine occupation emerged. The implications for science and STEM education are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akkerman, S. F., & Bakker, A. (2011). Boundary crossing and boundary objects. Review of Educational Research, 81(2), 132–169.
Allchin, D., Andersen, H. M., & Nielsen, K. (2014). Complementary approaches to teaching nature of science: Integrating student Iinquiry, Historical cases, and contemporary cases in classroom practice. Science Education, 98(3), 461–486.
Antink-Meyer, A., & Meyer, D. Z. (2016). Science teachers’ misconceptions in ccience and engineering distinctions: Reflections on modern research examples. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 27(6), 625–647.
Attardo, S., & Chabanne, J. C. (1992). Jokes as a text type. International Journal of Humor Research, 5(1/2), 165–176.
Bailey, S., Purzer, S., Nourian, S., Chao, J., Xie, C., Tutwiler, M. S., & Goldstein, M. H. (2017). Bridging the design-science gap with tools: Science learning and design behaviors in a simulated environment for engineering design. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(8), 1049–1096.
Ball, D. L., Thames, M. H., & Phelps, G. (2008). Content Knowledge for Teaching What Makes It Special? Journal of Teacher Education, 59(5), 389–407.
Baumgartner, J., & Morris, J. S. (2006). The Daily Show Effect: Candidate evaluations, efficacy, and american youth. American Politics Research, 34(3), 341–367.
Beede, D. N., Julian, T. A., Langdon, D., McKittrick, G., Khan, B., & Doms, M. E. (2011). Women in STEM: A gender gap to innovation. Economics and Statistics Administration Issue Brief 01–11. U.S. Department of Commerce. Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED523766.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2022.
Berube, M. S. (2001). Webster’s II New College Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Billig, M. (1997). The dialogic unconscious: Psychoanalysis, discursive psychology and the nature of repression. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 36, 139–159.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society and culture. London.
Bowd, A. D. (2004). Stereotypes of elderly persons in narrative jokes. Research on Aging, 25(1), 3–21.
Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P. G., & Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1045–1060.
Cheryan, S., Siy, J. O., Vichayapai, M., Drury, B. J., & Kim, S. (2011). Do female and male role models who embody STEM stereotypes hinder women’s anticipated success in STEM? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(6), 656–664.
Christensen, S. H., Jamison, A., Mitcham, C., Didier, C., Meganck, M., & Newberry, B. (2015). Engineering identities, epistemologies and values: engineering education and practice in context. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, 21 (Vol. 2). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16172-3
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Lawrence Earlbam Associates (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00544941
Cross, N. (1993). Social and design methodology: A review. Research in Engineering Design, 5, 63–69.
Devine, B., & Cohen, J. E. (1992). Absolute Zero Gravity. Simon & Schuster.
Diekman, A. B., Brown, E. R., Johnston, A. M., & Clark, E. K. (2010). Seeking congruity between goals and roles. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1051–1057.
Galison, P. (1997). Image and logic: A material culture of microphysics. University of Chicago Press.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory; Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine Transaction.
Goran, M. (1986). A Treasury of Science Jokes. Lincoln-Herndon Press, Inc.
Harendza, S., & Pyra, M. (2017). Just fun or a prejudice? Physician stereotypes in common jokes and their attribution to medical specialties by undergraduate medical students. BMC Medical Education, 17(1), 1–8.
Hartman, B., & Bell, R. (2018). Teaching the nature of engineering in K-12 science education: A Delphi Study (Fundamental). In 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings (pp. 1–40). ASEE Conferences. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--28927
Hazari, Z., Brewe, E., Goertzen, R. M., & Hodapp, T. (2017). The importance of high school physics teachers for female students’ physics identity and persistence. The Physics Teacher, 55(2), 96–99.
Kapon, S., & Erduran, S. (2021). Crossing boundaries – Examining and problematizing interdisciplinarity in science education. In O. Levrini, G. Tasquier, T. Amin, L. Branchetti, & M. Levin (Eds.), Engaging with Contemporary Challenges through Science Education Research: Selected papers from the ESERA 2019 Conference (pp. 265–276). Springer.
Kelley, T. R., & Knowles, J. G. (2016). A conceptual framework for integrated STEM education. International Journal of STEM education, 3(1), 1–11.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Larkin, D. (2012). Misconceptions about “misconceptions”: Preservice secondary science teachers’ views on the value and role of student ideas. Science Education, 96(5), 927–959.
Lorre, C. (Writter), Prady, B., Writter, Cendrowski, M. (Director). (2009, January 12) The killer robot instability (Season 2, Episode 12) [TV series episode]. In Lorre, C. (Executive Producer) (Eds.). The Big Bang Theory. Chuck Lorre Productions; Warner Bros. Television.
Magnusson, S., Krajcik, J., Borko, H., & Tobin, K. (1999). Nature, sources, and development of pedagogical content knowledge for science teaching. In J. Gess-Newsome & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Examining pedagogical content knowledge (pp. 95–132). Kluwer Academic.
Miller, D. I., Eagly, A. H., & Linn, M. C. (2015). Women’s representation in science predicts national gender-science stereotypes: Evidence from 66 nations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 631–644.
Moore, T., Stohlmann, M., Wang, H., Tank, K., Glancy, A., & Roehrig, G. (2014). Implementation and integration of engineering in K-12 STEM education. In S. Purzer, J. Strobel, & M. Cardella (Eds.), Engineering in Pre-College Settings: Synthesizing Research, Policy, and Practices (pp. 35–60). Purdue University Press.
Moshfeghyeganeh, S., & Hazari, Z. (2021). Effect of culture on women physicists’ career choice: A comparison of Muslim majority countries and the West. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 17(1), 010114.
Nagle, B. (2013). Preparing high school students for the interdisciplinary nature of modern biology. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12(2), 144–147.
Naukkarinen, J. K., & Bairoh, S. (2020). STEM: A help or a hinderance in attracting more girls to engineering? Journal of Engineering Education, 109(2), 177–193.
NRC. (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165
Pleasants, J., & Olson, J. K. (2019). What is engineering? Elaborating the nature of engineering for K-12 education. Science Education, 103(1), 145–166.
Radder, H. (2009). Science, Technology and the science-technology relationship. In Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences (Vol. 9, pp. 65–91). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-51667-1.50007-0
Sanders, M. (2009). STEM, STEM education, STEMmania. The Technology Teacher, 68(4), 20–26.
Schvartzer, M., Elazar, M., & Kapon, S. (2021). Guiding physics teachers by following in Galileo’s footsteps. Science & Education, 30, 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00160-4.
Stohlmann, M., Moore, T. J., & Roehrig, G. H. (2012). Considerations for teaching integrated STEM education. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 2(1), 4.
Tsybulsky, D., Dodick, J., & Camhi, J. (2018). The effect of field trips to university research labs on Israeli high school students’ NOS understanding. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1247–1272.
Valleriani, M. (2010). Galileo Engineer (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, no. 269). Springer.
Wang, H. H., Moore, T. J., Roehrig, G. H., & Park, M. S. (2011). STEM integration: Teacher perceptions and practice. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 1(2), 2.
Wang, M. T., & Degol, J. L. (2017). Gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): Current knowledge, implications for practice, policy, and future directions. Educational Psychology Review, 29(1), 119–140.
Yus, F. (2013). An inference-centered analysis of jokes, pp 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.231.05yus
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to the members of the Meaningful Disciplinary-Based Learning in Physics Education Group at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion, for their feedback and help with different phases of the analysis, and to Inbal Stone for her help in the coding of gender. We also thank Dr. Dina Tsybulsky for thoughtful discussions and suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest or competing interest regrading this work.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keren, L., Kapon, S. Stereotypical Attributes of Scientists and Engineers in Jokes. Sci & Educ 32, 617–634 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-022-00364-w
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-022-00364-w