Early childhood schoolbooks designed to teach children to read, have been shown not only to shape gendered identities in a limiting, binary format, but to lend the written word the appearance of unquestionable, and restrictive truth about the way the world is. Texts written for adults, too, may similarly limit what can be known, reining in the…

This cross-national European comparison examined gender representation and stereotypes in mathematics and language textbooks from Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Romania. The results showed that female characters were numerically underrepresented. Female characters were also less often a main character or individually portrayed…

Recent studies describe Jordan as a context where the encounter between modernity and tradition in the framework of neo-liberal transformations in the labour market have brought about paradoxes affecting women's lives. Despite several policies to implement gender equality introduced by the government, the rapid reduction of the gender gap in…

Informed by a feminist post-structural framework, this study departs from the overriding emphasis on explicit constructions of women in textbooks. It focuses on culturally implicit knowledge and/or gendered discourses that have informed the construction of gender in Ugandan secondary school textbooks. Findings illuminate the construction of women…

Textbooks are a multimillion dollar publishing business in the United States. Even as 21st-century classrooms become more multimodal, digital and hardcopy textbooks remain a key feature of American education. Consequently, classroom textbooks have been shown to control knowledge dissemination across the content areas. In particular, health texts…

When politicians discuss Italy's position in terms of achieving equality between men and women, the school environment is rarely called into question or mentioned. This is despite the fact that gender inequality remains a prominent feature of the Italian education system. The reason for this failure to perceive the problem, and the consequent lack…

This paper examines gender biases in school textbooks after a decade long effort by the ministry of education (MoE) Pakistan and international organisation (IOs) to eliminate all forms of gender inequality in education. The intention underpinning these initiatives was to nurture a view of gender equality based consciousness through the…

This study examined 41 Hindi or English language instruction textbooks widely used in Indian high school/higher secondary or preuniversity instruction. Frequency of male and female characters, their images, and their occupations were tabulated. Results indicate that Indian textbooks still present a stereotyped view of dominant males and…

The role of the teacher educator in eliminating sex bias in the schools is discussed. Limited resource availability to fulfill this role is noted. (JD)

The author examines the 1964 and 1980 editions of a basal reader from the British Ladybird series to see how much change had occurred in sex role presentations. (SJL)

A study of two elementary basal reading series found that, although the proportion of female main characters has increased, it was still less than that of males. Also, fewer men than women were depicted in nontraditional roles. (FG)

Notes that boys continue to be portrayed in reading materials in activities stereotypically associated with males, such as sports, adventure, and leadership; suggests that reading materials are needed that show boys in nurturing and expressive roles as well. (MKM)

Examines eight literary readers published between 1970 and 1980. Comments on the inclusion of works by women writers, attitudes toward women and men, the use of sexist language, and assumptions about the students for whom these textbooks were designed. (EKN)

Reports the results of research concerning the portrayal of the sexes in music textbooks. Suggests that such portrayals may reinforce women's underrepresentation in music education. Reports that men in the illustrations were more likely than women to be identified and presented in formal portraits. Discusses the stereotypical association of the…

Indicates that physics textbooks currently used in Britain present a clear masculine image and argues that a change in "image management" could encourage more girls to enter physics. (Author/SK)