Problematizing STEM Integration from an Epistemological and Identity Perspective

STEM education is a global trend, although there is not a convergence regarding the aims, methods and theories behind different meanings given. Within this amalgam of perspectives, the vision of STEM education as an inherently interdisciplinary or integrated framework is usually the most favored. This tacit understanding can lead STEM educational proposals to fail in the acknowledgement of what view of STEM education they hold and diminish the potential behind diversity of approaches. In this chapter we discuss how, regardless of the educational approach, we need to develop and promote both an epistemic understanding of what is STEM and students’ identity growth from an equitable and inclusive perspective so that STEM education can successfully achieve its educational aims. To this end, we argue how both an epistemological and identity perspective offer interesting arguments to address important questions within STEM education, such as the supposedly inherent integrative character of STEM education or the existence of a single privileged model of STEM integration. In consequence, we claim for a more critical standpoint in STEM education emphasizing the richness introduced by an idiosyncratic focus regarding both disciplines and people, offering an initial definition of STEM competence that can help to guide STEM education proposals.