Impact of the covid-19 pandemic on adolescents’ perception of science, scientists and health care workers, and change of career choices

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists and health care workers provided information based on scientific evidence for the general public, increasing their exposure on social and mainstream media. Society witnessed science-in-the-making while scientists and health care workers were dedicated to improve understanding and develop tools for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of this novel disease. This study aims to assess the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents’ perception of science, scientists and health care workers; to understand whether it changed their career choices; and to learn about the resulting first-year applications and enrollments in scientific and medical careers for the 2020-2021 school year in Mexico. We conducted a voluntary national anonymous online survey and analyzed the official database of the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions in Mexico (ANUIES) to answer these questions. With 983 valid responses (CI 95%) we found that by mid-2021, 9 out of 10 respondents aged 14-19 in Mexico had a positive perception of science; that the ongoing pandemic improved their perception of science (69%), scientists (70%) and health care workers (72%); and that their experience during the pandemic changed their career choices to pursue science (23%) and health care (28%) careers. The selected main reason (40-50%) for studying science and health care careers was “liking that type of knowledge”; while only 3% agreed that the pandemic was the main reason for their choice. A thorough analysis of the official ANUIES database showed an increase in first-year applications for scientific (22%) and health care (17%) careers for the 2020-2021 school year compared to the previous, non-pandemic 2019-2020 school year. Enrollment was partly limited by the number of places available. With this study we conclude that a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic could be the improvement of the perception of science, scientists and health care workers and possibly, the creation of a new generation of scientists, medical doctors, and health care workers. Future studies would need to investigate the duration and further positive consequences of this pandemic effect and to understand whether these results are consistent in other parts of the world where adolescents experienced different public policies, public messages and COVID-19 outcomes.