ERIC Number: ED212467
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1980-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Sex-Role Stereotyping in Mathematics Textbooks. Research Report.
New Zealand Dept. of Education, Wellington.
This study looked at six primary textbooks and 25 of 31 secondary textbooks of mathematics published in New Zealand. All exercises, problems, and illustrations were analyzed for references to roles and activities assigned to males and females. The number of times males and females were mentioned and the number of famous people of each sex noted were recorded. Language used was analyzed for examples of sexism. Results indicated four times as many roles were assigned to males as to females. Roles commonly given for females included teacher, mother, student, sister, nurse, girl guide, secretary, shop keeper, and housewife. These nine roles accounted for 59% of female roles in primary textbooks and 40% of those in secondary. The proportion of males to females taking part in activities was similar in primary texts but males appeared in the majority of activities in secondary texts. Illustrations were fairly well balanced in primary texts but secondary texts favored males. The use of "he" and "man" are cited as examples of textbook bias. Given this and other data, it was concluded that the textbooks as a group give strong evidence of bias in favor of males. (MP)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: New Zealand Dept. of Education, Wellington.
Identifiers - Location: New Zealand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A