Being “STEM-trygg” as a proposed concept for feeling at home in STEM

Preprint, 2026

Conversations with educators in Sweden have led me to reflect on the gap between research language and everyday pedagogical work. Science capital offers a useful research concept, but educators may find it difficult to use when planning activities or discussing people's experiences. This has inspired me to propose a complement: STEM-trygg. I use STEM-trygg as an expression for feeling able and welcome to engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics while recognising that one's knowledge is incomplete. The corresponding noun, STEM-trygghet, names that experience in a particular setting. I propose the expression as support for educators and science centre staff, who create opportunities for children, young people and adults to explore how the world connects and works. These experiences can range from atoms and artificial intelligence to ecosystems and equations, bringing subjects together around questions that matter to visitors and learners. As I navigated the complement, I used a purposive conceptual analysis of fifteen sources, spanning research and studies on preschool science play, school pedagogy and informal science learning. This was condensed down to four dimensions: perceived legitimacy, interpersonal security, confidence to engage and familiarity with engagement. They overlap with existing concepts, including science capital, self-efficacy, science identity, belonging and psychological safety. STEM-trygg may help educators move beyond grades to focus on the democratic aspects of education, discuss engagement, and consider how the experiences they create and plan could develop, support, and encourage science capital and lifelong learning.