Convergence of entrepreneurship and STEM Education: Trends and perspectives

This study examines the convergence of entrepreneurship and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, addressing the growing need to equip learners with technical expertise and entrepreneurial competencies for innovation-driven economies. Specifically, it aims to map the intellectual structure, research trends, and emerging themes that shape this interdisciplinary field. A bibliometric research design was employed using 174 peer-reviewed journal articles retrieved from the Scopus database (2002–2024). The analysis integrated performance analysis and science mapping techniques, including bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis, to identify conceptual relationships and future research directions. VOSviewer and Biblioshiny were utilized for data visualization and network mapping. Results reveal a steady growth in publications and citations since 2015, reflecting increasing scholarly interest in integrating entrepreneurial learning with STEM education. Four thematic clusters were identified, highlighting socio-technical and sustainability-oriented foundations, experiential curriculum integration, teacher- and competency-centered E-STEM models, and institutional mechanisms that shape entrepreneurial readiness in STEM education. Co-word analysis further emphasized engineering education, innovation, and entrepreneurship education as central research nodes, with emerging directions involving artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, and digital transformation. The study highlights the importance of education systems incorporating experiential, interdisciplinary, and technology-driven pedagogies to foster entrepreneurial mindsets and sustainable innovation among STEM learners. Overall, this research contributes by offering a methodologically integrated bibliometric mapping of the convergence between entrepreneurship and STEM education, utilizing a 22-year dataset, multi-technique clustering, and an explicit query design.