Three Ontologies of STEM Education: An Apolitical Curricular Trend, Eurocentric Economic Policy, and Discursive Episteme

In our efforts to foster space for critical work in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education, we put Barad’s notion of agential realism to work in describing the ontological space of STEM. We suggest three intersecting dimensions to this ontology: STEM as apolitical curricular trend, STEM as Eurocentric economic policy, and STEM as discursive episteme. With the goal of interrupting and proposing alternatives, we conclude by pointing to existing spaces where critical work in mathematics and science education already occurs.