An Analysis for Gender-Role Stereotyping of Texts and Illustrations in Elementary Science Textbooks developed under 2009 Revised National Curriculum

In this study, the gender-role stereotyping of the texts and the illustrations in the elementary science textbooks developed under the 2009 Revised National Curriculum was analyzed, and the results were compared with those of the 2007 Revised National Curriculum. In the texts, there were significant differences between boys and girls in the frequencies of texts, two types of learning activities such as scientific inquiry and emotional expression, and housekeeping activity. Women outnumbered men in housekeeping activity, but they were much less than men to perform outdoor and professional activities. In the illustrations, there were not significant differences by gender in pupils, and these results are desirable in terms of achieving balance between boys and girls. However, the textbooks were found to favor the illustrations of men especially in outdoor and professional activities. Women also performed more in housekeeping activity. Compared with the adult results of previous curriculum, these results were not improved at all.