A researcher in a laboratory. Most people said they want scientists to play a more
active role in public life and to work
closely with politicians.Kenyans trust scientists more than most people in the world,
according to a sweeping global survey.
The study, which involved over 71,000 participants from 68
countries, ranked Kenya fourth globally in trust in scientists – trailing only
Egypt, India, and Nigeria, and coming ahead of countries like the United
States, China and most of Europe.
This is the most extensive post-pandemic examination of
public trust in science. The authors describe it as an effort to understand
“how much people around the world trust scientists, and how do levels of trust
vary across countries”.
“In most countries, most people trust scientists,” they say in the
study published in Nature Human Behaviour journal.
It was conducted by a consortium of 241 researchers from 169
institutions worldwide, including Dr Tabitha Amollo, a lecturer in the
Department of Physics at Egerton University.
They found no country where average trust in scientists was low, even
though trust varied widely between and within countries.
In Africa, Egypt has the highest trust levels, followed by
Nigeria, Kenya then Uganda. Globally, Albania ranks lowest, just below
Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Russia and Ethiopia.
The researchers measured trust using
an index based on perceived competence, honesty (integrity), concern for
society (benevolence), and openness to feedback.
That Kenya ranks this high in a global trust index is not
surprising, given that policymaking often leans heavily on politics and ethnic
inclination than on scientific evidence.
“People in countries with high inequality may see scientists
as a trustworthy alternative to perceivably corrupt governments and political
and economic elites,” says the study, titled “Trust in scientists and their
role in society across 68 countries.”
The report notes that countries with high trust in scientists
managed Covid-19 more effectively. “Societies with high public trust in science
and scientists dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic more effectively, as citizens
were more likely to comply with non-pharmaceutical interventions and had higher
vaccine confidence”.
The study suggests a critical opportunity to the Kenyan
government to anchor more decisions in science because they would receive
widespread public approval.
In fact, the authors found that people want scientists to
play a more active role in public life.
Nearly three-quarters said scientists should work closely
with politicians, while more than half supported scientists actively advocating
for policies.
Also, 83 per cent of people globally, and particularly in
African countries, said that scientists should communicate about science with
the public more.“Public perception of scientific integrity –one of four
components of trust –is somewhat high, but perceptions of scientists’ openness
are lower,” the authors noted. “Scientists wishing to gain public trust could
work on being more receptive to feedback… and invest more effort into
communicating about science with the public”.Importantly, the study cautions against one-way, top-down
communication. “We recommend avoiding top-down communication but encouraging
public participation in genuine dialogue, in which scientists seek to consider
the insights and needs of other societal actors”.
But why does trust in scientists tend to be higher in some
lower-income countries (like Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and India) and lower in
some wealthier ones (like Russia, Israel, France or South Korea)?
The trust in scientists may reflect higher hopes for what science can deliver. People in these regions may view science as a needed and underutilised force for good.
The researchers found a surprisingly weak or even negative
link between economic development and trust in science. People in poorer
countries often express more trust in scientists than those in rich countries.
That could be because poor countries often see science as a
pathway to development.
“In lower-income countries, scientists and science are often
seen as enablers of national progress and economic development”.
In Kenya, science is still associated with positive change,
such as better healthcare, agricultural innovations, and mobile technology.
This belief may make people more inclined to view scientists favourably.
Lower-income countries also have less intense public
scrutiny of science, fewer high-profile controversies, or less polarising
debates about scientific topics such as vaccines and climate change.
“In some high-income countries, science has become
increasingly politicised, and public trust may be undermined by perceived
alliances between scientists and political or corporate actors,” the authors
said.
Kenyans and citizens of other poor countries also have
higher expectations of scientists.
“People in many African and Asian countries demand more from
scientists– they want scientists to speak to the public, influence policy, and
solve real-world problems like poverty and disease”.
In that sense, higher trust may reflect higher hopes for
what science can deliver. People in these regions may view science as a needed
and underutilised force for good.
You might also assume that religiosity is associated with
lower trust in scientists, given that some people perceive that science
disagrees with their religion.
This study found this is not necessarily correct. “Indeed,
we found that, overall, religiosity is positively associated with trust in
scientists,” the authors said.
The researchers also investigated what people believe scientists
should focus on. Across the world, people ranked improving public health,
solving energy problems and reducing poverty as top research priorities.
But here’s the catch: many respondents felt scientists were
not doing enough on these issues. The biggest gap was in poverty reduction.
“The responses suggest a substantial discrepancy between
what [people] perceive science is currently prioritizing and what they expect
scientists to prioritize,” the study says. Globally, people believed that too
much research was focused on military and defence technology, an area they
ranked lowest in priority.
Interestingly, in parts of Africa (including the Democratic
Republic of Congo), people still wanted relatively more investment in military
research, possibly due to security concerns.
Kenya’s high ranking in the global trust index comes at a
time when the country is only beginning to develop a stronger science-policy
interface.
Until recently, Kenya lacked a national policy framework to
support scientific research and innovation. It was only in 2023 that the
Ministry of Education finalised the National Science, Technology and Innovation
Policy.
The Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Higher
Education and Research, Dr. Beatrice Inyangala said last year that Kenya has
never had a national Science Technology and Innovation policy since
independence.
The draft policy developed in 2023 was validated last year
and was expected to be shared with the Parliamentary Committee on Education for
input and comments before being forwarded to the Cabinet for approval.