Conceptions of Disciplinary Anxiety across Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Contexts: A Critical and Theoretical Synthesis

Education policy is currently calling for wholistic reform towards the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). However, much of the calls lack practical advice or application to aid classroom and teaching professionals in this venture. Of particular interest should be how properties, such as barriers, of the individual disciplines may change in an integrated form. One such barrier that should be considered is that of anxiety. This review develops a novel framework for STEM anxiety in the educational context. This is accomplished through a review of anxiety literature within the individual disciplines, with reference to related psychological constructs. Literature was reviewed for definitions of anxiety within the disciplines, ways that disciplinary anxiety has been measured, and what antecedents were identified. Antecedents were taken from those that were explicitly identified, as well as those that were inferentially indicated in the definitions or the measurement instruments. The antecedents, or contributors, to the individual disciplinary anxieties were cross-referenced to generate a single list of potential antecedents that may impact learning within the integrated STEM space.