IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v11y2023i1p240-251.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Women Scientists on TikTok: New Opportunities to Become Visible and Challenge Gender Stereotypes

Author

Listed:
  • Brigitte Huber

    (Department of Marketing and Communication, IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany / Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Austria)

  • Luis Quesada Baena

    (Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

Today, women scientists are still underrepresented in media coverage and confronted with gender stereotypes. However, social media might have the potential to challenge current gender stereotypes of scientists, foster diversity in science communication, and open new ways of becoming visible. We explore this potential by analyzing TikTok accounts of female scholars (n = 50 accounts). Results from content analysis (n = 150 videos) indicate that female scientists from a wide range of different disciplines and at different career stages are visible on TikTok. Building on previous research, we show that female scholars use TikTok mainly to explain scientific facts and concepts and to discuss what being a (female) scholar is like. Moreover, female scholars talk about private life events, give expert advice, and show science in the making. Finally, some of the videos analyzed address gender stereotypes by, for example, challenging assumptions on how a female professor should dress. Implications for science communication in the digital age are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Brigitte Huber & Luis Quesada Baena, 2023. "Women Scientists on TikTok: New Opportunities to Become Visible and Challenge Gender Stereotypes," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 240-251.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:240-251
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6070
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monika Taddicken & Anne Reif, 2020. "Between Evidence and Emotions: Emotional Appeals in Science Communication," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 101-106.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adrian Rauchfleisch & Jo-Ju Kao & Tzu-Hsuan Tseng & Chia-Tzu Ho & Lu-Yi Li, 2023. "Maximizing Science Outreach on Facebook: An Analysis of Scientists’ Communication Strategies in Taiwan," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 228-239.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:240-251. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.