I would like to be a scientist, but... Social representations of students about scientists in The Big Bang Theory (sitcom)

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.5582242202082

• Palavras-chave: university students, social representations, scientists, The Big Bang Theory (sitcom).

• Keywords: university students, social representations, scientists, The Big Bang Theory (sitcom).

• Abstract:

  The purpose of this paper is to analyze what scientists mean to undergraduate students from the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) who appear in the television series The Big Bang Theory (sitcom). The study is based on the theory of social representations, which according to Moscovici (1979) social representations are an organization of images and language that personify or symbolize acts and situations and become common through different sources, among them the media. 297 students from the 6 thematic centers of the UdeG participated, answering a questionnaire of open questions, analyzed through content analysis. A complex figurative nucleus was identified among the students' responses in which the image of the scientist is based on his attributes or qualities in an ambivalent way: on the one hand, neutral qualities predominate, and on the other, there are negative attributes oriented towards stereotypes commonly associated with scientists. Most of the students report not identifying with any of the protagonists, and perhaps this undermines their conviction of professing a scientific discipline.

• Número de páginas: 24