Emine Eren, Ïlbilge Dökme
Identity research, which helps to understand society and people, has been one of the ways to understand STEM education in the last few years. STEM education, which has a history of nearly 60 years, through the lens of identity, can give us information about how much we identify with STEM. STEM identity is a dynamic process related to how an individual sees themselves in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, how they identify with these fields, and how they are perceived by others as part of this fields. This process is based on the continuous interplay between how a self recognizes itself through social interactions and experiences throughout its life and how it is recognized by others. The hands-on experiences and social interactions offered by STEM education provide an opportunity to support the development of STEM identity. While negative experiences in this process risk weakening identity development, the fact that identity can be changed and developed at any time also gives individuals the chance to reconstruct themselves and strengthen their scientific selves. This study is a narrative review aimed at understanding STEM identity models and perspectives. In addition to the sections summarizing the literature on STEM identity, STEM teacher identity, and how STEM identity is measured, STEM identity research topics are also discussed. Finally, the current situation regarding the place and importance of STEM identity research in Turkey is summarized. Although there is no accepted common view on STEM education and STEM practices, we find it important to look at STEM education from an identity perspective when STEM identity research continues rapidly and increasingly in Türkiye, as it sheds light on future STEM studies. This study serves as a literature summary for researchers who wish to investigate and understand STEM identity in the context of education.