World View in 2020

Scientific research can have a positive impact on society, particularly in a health crisis. But to fully achieve this, scientists must engage with end-users from the very beginning of the research process, writes Lea Pare Toe.

Doubly marginalized by race and gender, Black women expend vital energy managing stereotypes. Black women should be able to succeed in ways that affirm rather than negate their identities, argues Ebony Omotola McGee.

The involvement of girls and women in the development of science and technology is vital to achieving sustainable development goals in Africa. Identifying the barriers preventing their participation and mapping strategies to overcome these barriers could proffer the way forward, explains Francisca N. Okeke

Efforts to eliminate anti-Black racism in academia must go far beyond superficial ticking of boxes. The academic community must create conditions for authentic, not tokenistic, Black engagement, argues Tony Reames.

Black early-career researchers suffer racism, discrimination and significant barriers to professional development. Mya Roberson makes key suggestions on how non-Black scientists can support Black early-career researchers.

Politicians may present themselves as merely implementing scientific advice, but Alex Stevens argues that, when science meets politics, it can be a case of survival of the ideas that fit.

Growth-at-any-cost economics has health costs, a reality the COVID-19 pandemic brings into sharp relief. Governments must manage the tension between economics and health, but they should not stray from their original mandate to protect people. Too much dependence on the private sector weakened pandemic response, argues Susan Erikson.

The stock market provides a view of what investors expect for the future. It is precisely in complex situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak that the prescience of the market is particularly valuable, argues Alexander F. Wagner.

In the current absence of medical treatment and vaccination, the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic can only be brought under control by massive and rapid behaviour change. To achieve this we need to systematically monitor and understand how different individuals perceive risk and what prompts them to act upon it, argues Cornelia Betsch.

The human tendency to impose a single interpretation in ambiguous situations carries huge dangers in addressing COVID-19. We need to search actively for multiple interpretations, and governments need to choose policies that are robust if their preferred theory turns out to be wrong, argues Nick Chater.

The global practice of monetizing ecosystems to further national economic development has laid fertile ground for the COVID-19 pandemic and others like it, writes Cobus van Staden.