Gendered Science: Representational Dynamics in British Columbia Science Textbooks over the Last Half Century

Résumé

Gender continues to segregate schools despite substantial progress in promoting genderequity. The practice of science has long been associated with masculinity (e.g., rational, objective, and unemotional) but there have been recent attempts to assert a more nuanced gender balance in science education. These would include highlighting female scientists in curricula, teaching science in ways more appealing to both girls and boys, and providing female as well as male role models in textbooks. The concepts gender balance, gender roles, and gender framing are used to focus our analyses. We investigate the representation
of gender by analyzing images and the context surrounding these images in BC science textbooks used in Grades 7 to 11.