Rates of Gender Representation in Children’s Literature Across Cultures: A Comparison of Chinese vs. U.S. Children’s Books

Gender representation in children’s books can influence children’s understanding of gender equity. Research within single-culture contexts suggests that male protagonist overrepresentation tends to mirror broader societal gender biases in children’s books, including those published in China and the United States. This study conducts a cross-cultural integrative re-analysis that extends prior single-culture findings by examining shared data from 1,019 Chinese children’s books and 1,426 U.S. children’s books. Using harmonized coding categories, including protagonist gender, author gender, character type, genre, and target audience age, we examined whether male protagonist overrepresentation appeared across both cultural contexts and whether these patterns varied by culture. Research Findings: Results revealed significant male character overrepresentation across the two cultures, with a stronger pattern in Chinese books (ps < .05). Practice or Policy: This is the first large-scale study to compare gender representation in Chinese and U.S. children’s books, highlighting cultural differences and their implications for education and literacy development.