Is the growing inspirational drive to human colonisation of Space positively affecting organisational inclusiveness and wellness ? An enquiry inside and outside the Space workforce
- Paper number
IAC-23,E1,6,10,x77623
- Author
Dr. Giacomo Primo Sciortino, Italian Space Agency (ASI), Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Annamaria Nassisi, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Ingrid Hunstad, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy
- Year
2023
- Abstract
The Space Community within ASI’s (Italian Space Agency) “Distretto Virtuale” (D.V.), a Home-page information exchange platform (technological mapping, socio-economic trends, etc.), is traditionally engaged in socio-economic studies and enquiries, including the Space Workforce organisation. These activities - already presented at IACs (2018/2019 E1.5) - were centered so far on the indexed observation of inclusiveness and wellness levels in the Space Workforce (public and private), mainly in Italy, through the D.V. Panel (which was purposedly extended to EU subjects - Major multinational firms, Space Agencies - for international comparisons), in the assumption that the inspirational drive of Space toward innovative relational patterns, would reveal more positive indexes than in the all-sectors average. Yet, two rounds of observations (2016-18 period) showed a “lights and shadows” picture: inclusiveness levels roughly in line with the high general average of the Hi-Tech sector, career expectations doubtful careers for women, rather diverging observations from private and public sectors, etc. A new round of investigations seemed therefore necessary, considering, above all, the meantime further sizeable increase of Space appeal and perception to the general public - due to the enormous growth of satellite traffic and uses and space tourism offer, the upcoming return to the Moon and the exploration and mapping of Mars; but also the need to understand if the Media are effectively supporting the diffusion of Space inspiration as a human relational challenge for society, or instead lacking in this support and therefore hampering our expectations. Finally, regarding this, the updated study under preparation will be at three levels: 1) a collection of popular scientific and cultural “literature” (paper and audio/video) over the last two years 2020-22 and the relative analysis/rating of coverage intensity and quality on the said issues; 2) the circulation and analysis of a dedicated questionnaire for the D.V. Portal on the perception level of these issues within our sector; 3) the improvement and updating of the specific “inclusiveness” indexes monitored yearly by the D.V. Portal Panel, declined along the 3 Gs of Diversity and Inclusiveness (D&I) policies (Gender, Generation, Geography), to evaluate the variations from the last records (2018). Geographically, the Panels, questionnaires and other statistical adopted samplings, apart from Italy, will be extended to meaningful UE and international (USA, Japan, other) contexts. We believe in a positive result of this investigation; it will be in any case published and commented in the D.V. annual Territorial Workshops scheduled in november 2023.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-23,E1,6,10,x77623.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.