After the recent discussions on ethics in higher education, I have come across an interesting paper under the title “How to blow the whistle and still have a career afterwards.” A paper has been written by an Associate Provost and presents some practical rules of conduct and step-by-step procedures during the whistle-blowing process in higher education. Considering that there is a certain probability that we as future faculty might end up in a situation that requires whistle-blowing, we all should be aware that the process itself is far more complex and requires several steps. After all, initiating the whistle-blowing process is not ultimately about raising the concerns but about finding solutions for noted problem. A full reference of the paper is: Gunsalus, C., How to blow the whistle and still have a career afterwards. Science and Engineering Ethics, 1998. 4(1): p. 51-64.
Looking through the material for the coming lecture on communicating science, I noticed a similar approach with one of the TED talks I have watched before. The talk was given by Simon Sinek, and it was called “How great leaders inspire action.” As you may see in the video, similar to the material from Center for Communicating Science, in order to convey a powerful message to a large audience, a person needs to start with the question Why? – why is something important for that specific audience and how the work he/she is doing is related to those “ordinary” people.