Are Women Still Out of the Picture? A 30-year Follow Up on Sex Discrimination in Science Text

Kyle A. Seiverd^1, and Judith. A. Bazler¹

¹Toms River Regional School District

Cite this paper:
Kyle A. Seiverd and Judith. A. Bazler. Are Women Still Out of the Picture? A 30-year Follow Up on Sex Discrimination in Science Text. American Journal of Educational Research. 2021; 9(6):388-390. doi: 10.12691/education-9-6-10

Abstract

Textbooks are a fundamental part of classroom instruction. Over 90% of teachers have reported using textbooks in some form [1]. Exposure to textbook material can influence student¡¯s self-concept. Having illustrations that only represent one group prevents diverse role modeling. Providing diverse illustrations increases students capacity to develop self-concept [2]. For example, highlighting female illustrations in a textbook increases a female reader¡¯s self-concept in that subject. Historically science textbooks have been found to be gender bias, showing males more frequency than females [3]. A review of illustrations in high school chemistry textbooks from the 2010s found that male illustrations continue to be used more frequently than female illustrations. The difference in total frequency of male and female illustrations was statistically significantly in high school chemistry textbooks from the 2010s. However, five of the seven chemistry textbooks from the 2010s did not differ significantly in male and female illustration frequency. Illustrations in chemistry textbooks from the 2010s did not exhibit stereotyping, with one gender performing science-related actions more frequently than another. Although high school chemistry textbooks from the 2010s had a reduced gender ratio compared with chemistry textbooks from the 1970s and 1980s, gender bias still existed.

Keywords:
chemistry education gender bias textbook equity

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Patterson, J. (2019, June 2). Teachers Key: Textbooks Are Being Phased Out. The Post-Journal. https://www.post-journal.com/news/page-one/2019/06/teachers-key-textbooks-are-being-phased-out/.
[2]	Bazler, J.A., & Simonis, D.A. 1990. Are Women Out of the Picture? Sex discrimination in science texts. The Science Teacher, 57(9): 24-26.
[3]	Heikkinen, H. 1978. Sex bias in chemistry texts: where is woman's place? The Science Teacher, (45)1: 16-21.