Science Center sentiments plummet after ‘impulsive’ cancellation of gender debate

The Science Centre, which is a statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE), has canceled an upcoming conference on the relationship between gender and sex, saying it would like to review its approach to the session after concerns comments have been provided on this subject.

Since its cancellation, its brand image has plummeted, according to media intelligence firm CARMA. Conversations on social media about the Science Center before the discussion was canceled were 38.7% positive and 3.2% negative. After the cancellation, his sentiments dropped to 7.4% positive and 52% negative. Her word cloud also included words like “outcry,” “cancelled,” and “like.”

“The Singapore Science Center previously had little coverage on social media and as a result, the cancellation of the discussion led to an increase in a lot of negative social conversations,” said Divika Jethmal, head of the marketing for Asia at CARMA.

She added that negative comments can be mitigated when the company responds in a way that people find satisfactory, so that they comment favorably on the brand or let the incident pass.

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The discussion in question, which was to take place on June 14 for people aged 18 and over, aimed to delve deeper into the dynamics of gender and sex.

“From community perspectives to academia, engage in thoughtful exploration of the biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors that shape our understanding of gender and sex,” the Science Center wrote in the description of the event.

The conference was reportedly supposed to feature Alexander Teh, a youth counselor from the LGBTQ group Oogachaga, drag queen Becca D’Bus and Dr Mie Hiramoto, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) who also works with the Faculty of the NUS Arts. and the research center on gender and sexuality in the social sciences.

In response to questions from MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Science Center explained that it regularly hosts ticketed dinners as part of its Science Café event series, where it promotes interest in science and curiosity by featuring speakers from various disciplines who share their perspectives on particular topics.

Previous Science Café sessions have examined topics such as the impact of aging, the rapid development of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of artificial intelligence on artistic developments. They have also all been reserved for people aged 18 and over.

“Our June Science Café session aimed to discuss the sociocultural factors that shape society’s understanding of sex and gender,” the text states, adding:

Following online publicity of the session, we received comments from the public expressing concerns about the content that will be discussed in the session, as well as the composition of the speakers.

As a result, he decided to review the session and not continue it.

An instinctive reaction?

According to PR professionals MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke with, the statement reads like a “knee-jerk reaction” on the part of the Science Centre.

“Their statement is very weak. It does not address the ‘reactions’ they are referring to or the concerns raised,” said Charu Srivastava, chief strategy officer and head of corporate affairs at TriOn & Co.

“The statement mentions that they have revised their approach to the session with little elaboration or clarification on what they mean by that. They do not even clearly state that the session is canceled. Instead, it simply mentions the refund of tickets purchased for the event in question,” she added, specifying that the session in question was also canceled in less than 24 hours.

Srivastava explained that all of these factors make it seem like a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the Science Center. She added:

It appears that the Science Center reacted recklessly to a section of Singaporean society that was complaining the most loudly.

She noted that the “extremely short time frame” appears to indicate that balanced feedback was not considered or consulted before the decision was made.

Srivastava also explained that referring to “composition of speakers” without further details, again, leaves people guessing as to what they are trying to imply.

“On the one hand, they are the ones who approved the session and the speakers. So, do they admit that they made a mistake? It is a mistake to repeat what the negative voices say without clear explanations or clarifications. They opened a can of worms for themselves by trying to appease the keyboard warriors,” she said, adding that they should have issued a much better thought out, better worded statement and more. empathetic.

“They need to acknowledge the situation, the feedback they took into account, whether or not they consulted a cross-section of Singaporean society before making the decision to cancel the event,” Srivastava said. She added that he should also have informed the speakers beforehand and shared their reasons before the cancellation of the event was made public,” she said.

The role of the institution in these conversations

Adding to Srivastava’s point, Edwin Yeo, managing director of the Strategic Public Relations Group, noted that it is also important that the Science Center thought about the objectives when it decided to organize this conference.

“It must have been clear from day one that this was a polarizing topic, even as we move towards a more diverse and inclusive society. The topic represents a profound challenge to long-standing beliefs, traditions and even religion, so backlash had to take place. been anticipated,” Yeo said.

He explained that the aim of these talks must be to propagate a more harmonious society, in which we can coexist peacefully with our neighbors, regardless of race, religion and gender. Yeo added:

This raises the question of whether the Science Center is the right platform to address such a topic and whether it would have the expertise to mitigate the obstacles that would surely have followed.

Moreover, the added complexity lies in the fact that since it is the Science Centre, it becomes a lightning rod for anyone who opposes the views shared in the discourse presented as scientific, he said. he declares.

“I applaud the Science Center for its courage in trying to contribute to a more inclusive society, but I urge it to be more attentive to the messages it sends when it decides to organize such debates, particularly in role of the institution when inserting itself into such conversations,” Yeo added.

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