STS boundary spanners: an essential ingredient to substantive public engagement work with US federal government agencies

This study posits the existence of a technical bureaucratic expert we call the STS boundary spanner, who exhibits expertise at moving across socio-technical divides to implement participatory public engagement exercises within US federal agencies. This type of expert has specialized knowledge of organizational cultures, broader political controls, and PPE practices. Our characterization of STS boundary spanners is drawn from an empirical study documenting the experience of PPE practitioners who co-designed PPE forums with three US federal agencies from 2014 to 2018. Our findings demonstrate the need for further study of boundary spanning practices in science-oriented government agencies to understand their potential to advance important normative goals of STS and Responsible Research and Innovation for bridging the socio-technical divide and empowering everyday people in technical decision-making. The study's findings support the need for STS programs in the US to continue to broaden graduate student training beyond preparation for academia.