Gender stereotypes and bias in english language school textbooks: Reflection from literature review across different countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35719/annisa.v17i2.320Textbooks significantly influence student learning, shaping values, beliefs, and cultural perspectives. They convey gender roles, social norms, and biases, making it crucial to create gender-neutral materials. This requires a thorough review of existing textbooks to ensure they are free from gender bias. The purpose of this study is to examine five specific aspects of selected previous research: gender representation in language and terminology, visual representation, representation of professional roles, occupations and jobs, leisure activities and play, as well as cultural and regional differences in gender portrayal in textbooks. A comprehensive strategy was employed to search and identify research papers from Web of Science, Scopus, Springer Link, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, and ERIC. The selected papers span from 2007 to 2024. From 358 results, 68 publications representing 45 selected papers were analyzed and discussed, investigating stereotypes and gender bias in English textbooks at the school level. The findings reveal that illustrations are dominated by male figures, often in active leadership roles, while females are underrepresented or shown in passive roles. Boys are depicted in adventurous activities, whereas girls are portrayed in domestic settings, with textbooks consistently minimizing women’s achievements across various cultures and regions. This study contributes to the understanding of gender bias in textbooks, highlights the unequal representation of male and female roles, and provides a foundation for developing more inclusive and equitable educational policies in shaping children’s social perceptions from an early age.
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