The curriculum used in educating young people has the ability either to serve as a catalyst for the development of a science identity or potentially sway individuals away from the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This study critically analyzed gender representation across 10 secondary education biology/life science textbooks from two distinct types of publishers; secular and religious-based. Content analysis was used to examine the extent to which gender representation differed across the indices and images included in secular and religious textbooks while semiotic analysis was used to examine the messages conveyed through the images and associated captions. This analysis was guided by a framework of liberal feminist theory. The study found consistent underrepresentation of women and problematic representation of women in images across textbook types. Four main findings were established; women were frequently portrayed as patients in health care settings, they were often shown in the act of eating, the settings in which women were found varied across text types from professional labs to home kitchens, and textbook publishers showed preference to male-presenting bodies when creating diagrams. The findings highlight the need for educators to evaluate the messages being conveyed to the learner through the hidden curriculum. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]