Most jokes attempted during scientific talks ‘fall flat’

Men are more likely to crack a joke in a conference talk and elicit laughter from audiences, says a new study which suggests gender bias may inhibit women from using humour.

In what was conceived as an effort to “combat the tedium of long conference sessions”, eight scientists tracked the use of humour across 531 talks at 14 biology-related conferences to examine how often researchers attempt or land a joke during what were often highly technical presentations.

The results, published by the Royal Society journal Proceedings B, suggest a large proportion (41 per cent) of speakers told no jokes and only a few speakers attempted multiple jokes, “confirming that the absence of humour in scientific talks is indeed the norm”.

Of the 870 unique jokes attempted, the “majority [67 per cent] fell flat or landed mildly, earning mostly quiet chuckles”, and jokes “eliciting whole-room laughter were rare”, happening in only 9 per cent of cases, says the study, speculating that “when audiences do not ‘expect’ to laugh, laughter is more difficult to achieve”.

Despite “the anti-comedic professional norms that scientific audiences are bound by”, the study argued that “unsuccessful jokes are not necessarily unappreciated”.

In many cases, jokes early in a talk that elicited “relatively low laughter intensity” were used for “breaking the ice and priming listeners to respond more enthusiastically to humour later on”.

“A well-placed closing joke serves as the cherry on top, leaving the audience with a positive lasting impression and reinforcing the speaker’s connection with the listeners,” it adds.

However, men are far more likely to use humour, telling about a third more jokes than women, and enjoying a “10 per cent higher probability of eliciting laughter”, says the study published on 18 March.

That may reflect “broader social dynamics in academia – where confidence, authority and the freedom to take risks (like joking) are not equally distributed”, it continues, arguing that “disparities in the ability to joke seem to stem, at least partly, from gendered expectations…that shape who feels comfortable being playful in professional spaces”.

“One could argue that women who use humour in traditionally male-dominated settings may violate gender norms and risk social penalties,” it adds.

Informal follow-up chats during coffee breaks with many female scientists confirmed this argument, claims the study, stating that women “revealed that they experience heightened impostor syndrome when joking and perceive humour as a professional risk, fearing it could undermine their credibility in an environment where they already struggle with a sense of belonging”.

“Humour may act as an amplifying mechanism – giving already-privileged speakers yet another tool to increase visibility, likability and memorability in professional spaces, potentially widening existing gaps in scientific communication.”

Regardless of whether a joke lands or not, scientists should be brave to attempt some humour during a talk, argue the authors.

“Ultimately, each joke we recorded in this study was an attempt to connect the audience to the speaker through a shared experience, perspective or piece of information.”