Scully effect

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The Scully effect is a disputed, especially in English-speaking countries phenomenon that women after the broadcast of the TV series The X-Files - The X Files increasingly called MINT taken occupations, ie activities in mathematics , information technology , science and technology (English .STEM for science, technology, engineering, mathematics ). The reason for this should be the heroic main character Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson ), who solves tricky cases as an FBI agent and forensic doctor .

Evidence and Studies

The scientific advisor of the series and author of the popular science book The Real Science Behind The X-Files: Microbes, Meteorites and Mutants (New York 2001), Anne Simon , confirmed this effect even before the publication of the first demoscopic study after a survey of her own students.

“I asked my class, I think it was in 1999, if anyone was here [in their lecture] about the X-Files. Two thirds of the hands went up. I still get emails from people telling me they read my book because they liked the X-Files. Somebody bought the book for them and they couldn't put it down and that they want to be a scientist now. "

- Dr. Anne Simon

A study by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in collaboration with the film company 21st Century Fox and J. Walter Thompson Intelligence demonstrated the effect of TV series on career choices. Around 2,000 women were asked who were typical X-Files viewers . Accordingly, those who knew the character of Dana Scully were actually more willing to work in the fields of science and technology. 63 percent of women who work in this field even said that Scully was their role model. A similar number responded that Scully had encouraged them to survive in this male-dominated work environment. And half said that Scully had grown their interest in the area.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Scully Effect. In: spookyverse.de. July 23, 2018, accessed July 30, 2018 .
  2. Jackson Landers: I Want to Believe (In the Science of "The X-Files"). In: Smithsonian Magazine . March 1, 2016, accessed July 30, 2018 .
  3. ^ The Scully Effect: I Want to Believe in STEM. Research by 21st Century Fox, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, J. Walter Thompson Intelligence, March 19, 2018, accessed on September 11, 2018 .
  4. a b Sonja Hartl: The wonderful Scully effect. Voluntary self-regulatory television , June 12, 2018, accessed July 30, 2018 .
  5. Jürn Kruse: Women in Natural Sciences: The Scully Effect. In: taz.de . April 26, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018 .