Account Login/Registration

Access KelownaNow using your Facebook account, or by entering your information below.


Facebook


OR


Register

Privacy Policy

Canadians Take Top Spot for Science Knowledge

Turns out Canadians are very highly ranked when it comes to public knowledge about science according to a new expert panel.

On Thursday the Council of Canadian Academies released the report that found Canadians excel in public science knowledge, attitudes and engagement. It’s not all good news though as researchers determined there is room for improvement in some areas, such as skills development.


Photo Credit: Stock Photo

“Overall, our 14-member expert panel found that Canadians perform well across a range of science culture indicators,” said Dr. Arthur Carty, Chair of the Expert Panel. “It is important that we continue to strive for a society that looks to science to inform decisions and to broaden our world view.”

The survey looked at 2,000 Canadians and does not include recommendations but rather provides evidence and insights for policy makers and others looks to strengthen science culture. Key findings include that Canadians have positive attitudes towards science and technology and low levels of reservations about science compared to other countries.

Canadians rank first out of 17 countries when it comes to reservations about science. Canada also ranks ninth out of 17 in terms of attitudes regarding the promise of science. A total of 93 per cent of Canadians surveyed report being moderately or very interested in scientific discoveries and technological developments. Canada ranked first out of 33 countries on this measure.


Photo Credit: Stock Photo

Consistent with other countries, survey respondents who were: younger; male; highly educated; and/or had high incomes levels had a greater interest in science. Canada ranks first on a science literacy index among countries with similar available data, though this ranking should be viewed with caution as science literacy has been increasing over time in most countries and data for other countries is less recent.

Despite Canada’s strong performance internationally, more than half of Canadians surveyed still lack the level of science knowledge needed to understand current public debates about issues involving science and technology.



If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.

If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.


Weather
webcam icon

weather-icon
Fri
12℃

weather-icon
Sat
12℃

weather-icon
Sun
15℃

weather-icon
Mon
17℃

weather-icon
Tue
16℃

weather-icon
Wed
12℃

current feed webcam icon

Recent Livestream




Top Stories

Follow Us

Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Linkedin Follow us on Youtube Listen on Soundcloud Follow Our TikTok Feed Follow Our RSS Follow Our pinterest Feed
Follow Our Newsletter
Privacy Policy

Quick Links