On the sovereignty of school rhetoric: Representations of science among scientists and guidance counsellors

This article sheds light on views held by actors who enjoy a certain degree of institutional legitimacy for “talking about science,” either as practitioners in the field of science or as guidance counsellors working with youths interested in having a science-related career. One hundred and seven scientists and technologists who worked either in a university or industrial research centre and 182 guidance counsellors working in high school settings participated in our survey; the main instrument for data collection was a questionnaire developed using the bank of items from “VOSTS.” Excepting a few aspects of the production of scientific knowledge, the predominant tendency suggests that both professional groups share a relatively similar discursive outlook on science—an outlook which presents a “family resemblance” with the usual school rhetoric on the exceptional status of science.