POLISH LOWER AND UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS OF A SCIENTIST

There is an increasing problem of a much smaller number of students in natural sciences or mathematics in Poland. The number of students is decreasing so dramatically that some courses are closed. Therefore, it becomes very important to look for the possible causes. The starting point for these considerations is the study on the image of a scientist. The image of a scientist and the factors that shape it have been the subject of research in various countries around the world for more than fifty years. The aim of the present research was to determine what the image of a scientist according to Polish students is. Additionally, the impact of the students' age (in the range of 13-19 years old) on this image was analysed. The study involved 938 students of lower and upper secondary public schools from all over the country chosen randomly. The research was based on a questionnaire which was anonymous and community-based. The main questions were preceded by an enquiry about the respondent's personal information such as gender, age, type of school they attend, and school locality. These data were needed for the analysis of such factors as, for example, the effect of gender. The obtained results showed that the image of a scientist according to Polish students is quite similar to the stereotype adopted by students from other countries. Contrary to some earlier reports, Polish students usually presented a scientist as a young person and paid more attention to personal safety equipment like a lab coat, gloves and goggles. It should be noted that this stereotype is quite archaic and is not associated with a real vision of a scientist. This lack of awareness may have an impact on shortage of students in the structure of science studies.