Table 1.

Scientific careers introduced through an ‘interview-about-scenario’ technique, and values expressed, and issues raised, by students in response to considering whether they might be comfortable working in those careers

Career option	Scenario	Values and issues raised
Medical doctor	Doctors have to be able to deal with very ill people, and sometimes with people in great pain or even dying. In their training they have to dissect human corpses to learn about anatomy. In their work they have to examine people with infectious diseases and, sometimes, horrible injuries	Worth of seeking to help others Squeamishness Dealing with death Life-and-death responsibility Sanctity of human bodies
Cosmologist	Some scientists explore theories of cosmology that try to find out about the origins and history of the universe. The working assumptions in this area are that the universe is thousands of millions of years old, and has slowly developed to have the structure astronomers see today	Lack of certainty of knowledge developed Potential for clashes with (or support for) religious beliefs Importance of basing thinking on evidence
Medical researchers	Medical researchers explore the nature of disease and the potential of different treatments to help cure disease or relieve pain and other symptoms. Sometimes medicines and treatments are tested out on non-human animals to see if they are effective. This involves giving animals diseases or injuries, and then comparing different treatments with the untreated animals. Sometimes these animals have to be killed and dissected so that the scientists can examine their internal organs	Can help people live and prosper Important to improve medical treatments Balancing numbers of lives sacrificed for numbers potentially saved Relative value of human and non-human animal lives Special status of humans Morally questionable actions Squeamishness Moral status of (non-human) animals Unfairness Undeservedness of human disease Animals cannot give consent Abuse of human power Relative value of animal lives of different species Specimens of abundant species valued less
Palaeontologist	Palaeontologists study the development of life on earth by examining fossils of living organisms that died a long time ago. These scientists work with the geologist’s models for how different rock formations were formed at various times in the last four thousand million years or so, and with the biologist’s model of how all the living forms on earth today evolved from the same very simple life forms which lived on earth over three thousand millions years ago	Limited scope to develop new scientific understandings Lack of certainty of knowledge developed Potential for clashes with religious beliefs
Conservationists	Conservationists try to preserve the different ecosystems on earth where different animals and plants are found. It is believed that many of the species on earth are in danger of extinction, and some times conservationists recommend killing some animals in certain places because there are too many for the food supply, or because one species (perhaps one not native to an area) threatens the existence of another	Good to put right human disruption of the natural order Existence of a preferred state of affairs that ‘should’ be Duty of care to maintain habitats Relative worth of lives of weak/sick and strong specimens Justification of sacrificing a few animals to save many Important to kill humanely Killing justified if animals breed quickly Relative value of animal lives of different species Identifying the interests of an individual animal (e.g. to be culled) with those of the wider population Animal species valued as sources of materials of use to humans
Anthropologists	Some anthropologists study how modern humans have evolved from other species over the last few million years. These scientists assume that modern human beings have been round for between a quarter and half a million years, and that their ancestors were physically different from people today, for example in the size and shape of their heads	Lack of certainty of knowledge developed Potential for clashes with religious beliefs But important to examine evidence Work could be biased by existing beliefs Uncomfortable thinking about having non-human ancestors
Genetic engineers	Some scientists use genetic engineering to produce new types of animals and plants. They take some of the genetic material from one type of living thing, and add it to a completely different type. This can, for example, produce crops which can better deal with pests or cold weather or lack of water	Value of addressing food shortages Value of improving efficiency of production and human (subsistence) incomes Value in improving nutritional value of crops Value in crops to replace non-renewable resources Value in developing strains to future-proof Human interference (meddling) in the natural order Purpose of genes is to allow evolution Potential for clashes with religious beliefs Modifying plants is a different matter to modifying (or cloning) animals Designer babies questionable Risks of unintended consequences Existence of a preferred state of affairs that ‘should’ be