Analysis of Gender Fairness of Primary School Mathematics Textbooks in Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to analyse whether primary school mathematics textbooks in Turkey (grades 1 to 4) are fair concerning gender. The study analysed four mathematics textbooks approved by the Ministry of National Education and published for use in the 2019-2020 school year. These books were examined in terms of the ratio of the appearances of women and men, the activities performed by each gender, the professional and family roles assigned to these individuals, and who (children/adults) and where (outdoors/indoors) people were. In addition, famous people and characters mentioned in the books were investigated regarding their genders. Fistly, content analysis was used to determine the frequencies of the categorises; then a chi-square test was performed to determined whether there are significant differences in these categories regarding genders. The findings reveal some evidence of equality, including a balanced proportion of females/males appearing, and the presentation of girls and boys in all categories. However, gender inequality is still persistent in terms of the adults’ activities, occupational and parental roles, locations in which they are presented and people with whom they are shown. The results show that the textbooks contribute to the reproduction of gender stereotypes by presenting images of adults shaped by a sexist view.