The goal of the proposed graduate interdisciplinary specialization (GIS) is to train graduate students to become wicked scientists who are able to tackle the grand challenges of today and tomorrow—what are otherwise known as wicked problems. The concept of wicked problem describes a wide range of global challenges including: climate change, food security, growing inequality, cyber security, and emerging infectious diseases. Wicked problems have two fundamental properties: (1) they are dynamic, complex systems with many interdependencies; and (2) stakeholders have different values, interests and conceptions of the problem and its solution (Rittel and Webber 1973). Because wicked problems are complex and political, it is impossible to “solve” them.
The standard scientific approach conceptualizes problems as having straightforward technical solutions, but ignoring the complexity and political dimensions of such problems has serious consequences. The accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, for example, was not simply the result of technical malfunction, but the result of underlying organizational and cultural issues within NASA (Hall 2003). In other words, rocket science is not just an engineering problem, but a wicked problem that is highly complex and involves numerous stakeholders. And though much has been written about the challenges of such wicked problems (DeFries and Nagendra 2017; Balint et al. 2011), this has not translated into graduate programs that train scientists to tackle these grand challenges in transdisciplinary research teams (National Research Council 2014).
Because the most pressing problems in the world are wicked problems, it is no longer sufficient for graduate students to be experts in their respective fields. They also need to have the necessary skills to collaborate successfully with diverse teams of researchers and stakeholders. The need for graduate students with both deep disciplinary training and the transdisciplinary soft skills to tackle wicked problems has been identified in numerous reports from the National Science Foundation (Gray and Motter 2017), National Academies of Sciences (Leshner and Scherer 2018), Council of Graduate Schools (Denecke, Feaster, and Stone 2017), and organizations like Google (Garvin, Wagonfeld, and Kind 2013). It is for this reason that we propose a GIS in wicked science that trains students to become inclusive, transdisciplinary researchers of wicked problems.
The GIS will prepare students for a wide range of careers in and outside of academia. After completion students will be able to: (A) tackle wicked problems using a systems-thinking approach that considers the roles, interests and perspectives of stakeholders; (B) collaborate effectively with stakeholders and team members from diverse backgrounds and experiences to tackle wicked problems; (C) communicate effectively scientific research and ideas to diverse audiences and through different modalities; (D) meet ethical, collegial, and professional expectations and standards in collaborative research and other professional endeavors; and (E) articulate a sense of purpose and develop habits that prepare them for life-long learning about and engaging with wicked problems. In short, the GIS will train students from across the university to become wicked scientists, who are able create an inclusive culture in transdisciplinary teams, which is critical for realizing what is known as the diversity bonus—the benefit teams gain from generating new ideas through the diversity of their members (Page 2017).
For more information, please contact Mark Moritz at moritz.42@osu.edu
References Cited
Balint, P.J., R.E. Stewart, A. Desai, and L.C. Walters, eds. 2011. Wicked environmental problems: managing uncertainty and conflict. Washington, DC: Island Press.
DeFries, R., and H. Nagendra. 2017. Ecosystem management as a wicked problem. Science 356 (6335):265-270.
Denecke, D., K. Feaster, and K. Stone. 2017. Professional development: Shaping effective programs for STEM graduate students. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools.
Garvin, David A., Alison Berkley Wagonfeld, and Liz Kind. 2013. Google's Project Oxygen: Do Managers Matter?: Harvard Business Review.
Gray, Kimberly A., and Adilson E. Motter. 2017. Multidisciplinary complex systems research: Report from an NSF workshop in May 2017. Northwestern University.
Hall, Joseph Lorenzo. 2003. Columbia and Challenger: organizational failure at NASA. Space Policy 19 (4):239-247.
Leshner, Alan, and Layne Scherer. 2018. Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century.
National Research Council. 2014. Convergence: Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond. Washington (DC).
Page, Scott E. 2017. The diversity bonus: How great teams pay off in the knowledge economy. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.
Rittel, Horst W. J., and Melvin M. Webber. 1973. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sciences 4:155-169.