Measures to Identify Gifted Students in STEM Subjects: A Systematic Review of Literature

Models of giftedness describe various factors related to its expression. Using measures with established psychometric quality can help teachers identify gifted students. In this systematic review, we analyzed developmental studies on measures to identify gifted students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. After following PRISMA protocol, we included 46 studies. Throughout these studies, few to no measures were identified for life sciences, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer sciences. Additionally, no international cross-site comparisons were conducted, and few studies included cultural or socioeconomic variables in their validation processes. Most measures assessed academic performance, rather than factors influencing real-life outcomes. Validation emphasized comparisons with known groups defined by standardized tests. Many studies showed risks of bias due to insufficient method descriptions, and few measures demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. The described measures do not align with current approaches in identifying gifted students, revealing gaps in research and development in STEM subjects.