How the “Queen Science” Lost Her Crown: A Brief Social History of Science Fairs and the Marginalization of Social Science

Abstract

Science fairs at one time started out with an interest of increasing participation in the sciences. But as time has passed, the definition of science has been narrowed to the point where any possible social science project has been eliminated in favor of the bench sciences only. Even here, natural curiosity of students has been deemphasized. It is not surprising that science majors in the USA are becoming fewer and fewer given the narrowing of the disciplines. Young people are discouraged from majoring in science by the science establishment.

Keywords

• science education
• declining science majors
• science fairs