  Various motivations bring researchers to discipline-based education research
(DBER), but there is little research on their conceptualization of and
navigation into this new-to-them area of research. We use phenomenography to
analyze interview data collected from twenty-eight emerging STEM education
researchers to gain a better understanding of how they perceive themselves
within DBER and what they perceive it to be. Grounded in the figured worlds
theoretical framework, we identify the spectrum of ways emerging STEM education
researchers identify or project themselves into this new space: to improve
their teaching, to make it their new primary research field, and/or to
negotiate how it will fit with their primary one. We also highlight salient
negotiations that emerge because of the close ties between DBER and
disciplinary science, which provides us with a better understanding of emerging
researchers' perceptions. This work generates insight into the kinds of
professional development opportunities that would support emerging education
researchers within STEM departments and the broader DBER community.
