Background
Identity provides a useful conceptual lens for understanding educational inequalities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In this paper, we examine how paying attention to physical and digital ‘materiality’ enriches our understanding of identity work, by going beyond the spoken, written and embodied dimensions of identity performances that currently dominate the area of STEM identity scholarship. We draw on a multimodal ethnographic study with 36 young people aged 11–14 carried out over the course of one year at four UK-based informal STEM learning settings. Data collection included a series of interviews, observations and youth-created portfolios focused on STEM experiences. Illustrative case studies of two young men who took part in a community-based digital arts centre are discussed in detail through the theoretical lenses of Judith Butler’s identity performativity and Karen Barad’s intra-action .

Results
We argue that physical and digital materiality mattered for the performances of ‘tech identity’ in that (i) the focus on the material changed our understanding of tech identity performances; (ii) digital spaces supported identity performances alongside, with and beyond physical bodies, and drew attention to new forms of identity recognition; (iii) identity performances across spaces were unpredictable and contained by the limits of material possibilities; and (iv) particular identity performances associated with technology were aligned with dominant enactments of masculinity and might thus be less accessible to some young people.

Conclusion
We conclude the paper by suggesting that accounting for materiality in STEM identity research not only guides researchers in going beyond what participants say and are observed doing (and thus engendering richer insights), but also offers more equitable ways of enacting research. Further, we argue that more needs to be done to support the translation of identity resources across spaces, such as between experiences within informal and online spaces, on the one hand, and formal education, on the other.



中文翻译：

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年轻人的技术身份表现：为什么物质性很重要

背景
身份为理解科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 领域的教育不平等提供了有用的概念视角。在本文中，我们研究了关注物理和数字“物质性”如何通过超越目前主导 STEM 身份研究领域的身份表现的口语、书面和体现维度来丰富我们对身份工作的理解。我们借鉴了一项多模式人种学研究，该研究对 36 名 11-14 岁的年轻人进行了一年的时间，在四个英国的非正式 STEM 学习环境中进行。数据收集包括一系列访谈、观察和青年创作的以 STEM 经验为重点的作品集。 身份表演性 和凯伦巴拉德的 内部行动 。

结果
我们认为，物理和数字材料对“技术身份”的表现很重要，因为 (i) 对材料的关注改变了我们对技术身份表现的理解；(ii) 数字空间支持与身体并肩的身份表演，并提请注意新形式的身份识别；(iii) 跨空间的身份表现是不可预测的，并且受到物质可能性的限制；(iv) 与技术相关的特定身份表现与男性气质的主要表现相一致，因此可能对一些年轻人来说不太容易获得。

结论
我们通过建议在 STEM 身份研究中考虑重要性不仅指导研究人员超越参与者所说和被观察到的行为（从而产生更丰富的见解），而且还提供了更公平的研究实施方式。此外，我们认为需要做更多的工作来支持跨空间的身份资源转换，例如一方面在非正式和在线空间内的体验之间，另一方面在正规教育之间。