Perception of S&T Workforce about Defence Coverage in Newspapers: A Gender Specific Perspective

Abstract

The present study was conducted on the scientific and technological (S&T) workforce employed in various scientific institutions in the capital region of Delhi regarding their perception about coverage of defence-related news items in print media (Newspaper). In all, 438 scientists and technologists from various research laboratories in Delhi were covered through face-to-face interview in 2015 through a structured questionnaire. Due care was taken to cover the S&T workforce across gender, different age groups, education levels and nature of jobs. Gender analysis was carried out on the data collected and it revealed that there are differences in perception of male and female respondents about the coverage of defencerelated news by print media. The trends in perception were found to be similar but magnitude differed on different issues. More male respondents were found to be pro-weapons while more female respondents were for civil use of defence research. However, there were issues where gender-bias was negligible and male and female respondents’ perception was found to be similar.