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Sociology

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

Selected Works

Science policy

Institution
Publication Year

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Dissemination Practices In The Spanish Research System: Scientists Trapped In A Golden Cage, Cristobal Torres-Albero, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas, Jesús Rey-Rocha, María José Martín-Sempere Dec 2009

Dissemination Practices In The Spanish Research System: Scientists Trapped In A Golden Cage, Cristobal Torres-Albero, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas, Jesús Rey-Rocha, María José Martín-Sempere

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

The aim of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it offers a systematic analysis of the data available regarding Spanish scientists’ dissemination activities; on the other, it seeks to shed light on their behaviour and motivations. To do this, we consider the context of Spanish society and the conditions affecting the work and professional promotion of scientists. We present evidence from two surveys of CSIC researchers and of participants in Spain’s main science fair, with the caveat that the data were obtained in a methodologically favourable scenario. A contrast exists between scientists’ vocation to disseminate and the limitations …


Scientists In Charge: The Side Effects Of Hybrid Careers Between Research And Science Policy, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas, Javier López-Facal, Irene Ramos-Vielba Jan 2009

Scientists In Charge: The Side Effects Of Hybrid Careers Between Research And Science Policy, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas, Javier López-Facal, Irene Ramos-Vielba

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

What are the implications of the fact that the most important positions in science policy are held by credentialed and experienced researchers? We propose that appointing scientists to high-level responsibilities in R&D systems have some side effects for both policy making and for the organizational arrangements in S&T organizations that rely on public funding. Stratification mechanisms in the governance of science create a kind of hybrid career between research and science policy. People needed for managing public bodies and research organizations are researchers with expertise in the special arrangements of science. At the same time, distinguished scientists are seen as …


“The Harder They Fall”: Hybrid Careers Between Research And Science Policy, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas Jan 2009

“The Harder They Fall”: Hybrid Careers Between Research And Science Policy, Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

Manuel Fernández-Esquinas

This article studies professional careers between research and positions of responsibility in the governance of science. The process by which researchers are recruited in science policy organizations is studied as well as the conditioning social mechanisms which intervene in the subsequent development of their careers. 65 professional life stories of researchers that have held management, policy making and political positions in the Spanish R&D system between 1975 and 2007 have been employed. The study identifies organizational, cognitive and institutional social mechanisms that affect the researchers’ careers depending on the scientific specialties of origin, the positions held and the length of …