This study explores the potential of culturally salient experiences to contribute to adolescent STEM identity formation within an online global learning community. The study uses Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) to suggest how cultural elements of students’ experience within structured cross-cultural learning activities can contribute to students’ STEM identity formation. Our findings map out the linkages (here: co-occurrences) among constructs such as heritage, language, local STEM knowledge, values, and identity recognition that emerged from data generated during the student participants’ peer-to-peer group discussions in an online global STEM collaboration among teenagers. The results suggest incorporating cultural dimensions into STEM curricula can support diverse modes of STEM identity development, a goal well-aligned with support for sociocultural diversity in STEM fields. This paper invites collaboration with other researchers and educators to experiment with integrating cultural elements into STEM curricula and assess whether culturally salient experiences in the classroom add to the depth and richness of students’ STEM identities in ways that support their academic success and help build new STEM-aligned learning competencies.