Women and girls in primary school textbooks between 1970 and 2020. A quantitative and linguistic inquiry

Abstract

The paper analyses the evolution of female representation in primary school text-books between 1970 and 2020, focusing on gender stereotypes and unmarked terms. After a review of institutional initiatives and studies on the subject, the sample and the quantitative methodology are described. The findings highlight a negative trend: after a temporary improvement during the experience of 1998’s POLITE, women and girls return to be marginally represented in textbooks.

Keywords

• textbook analysis
• language gender stereotypes
• unmarked masculine
• inclusive language
• primary school