Gender Representation in Primary Level English and Urdu Textbooks in Pakistan

Abstract

The representation of gender in school textbooks is an area that has been researched in different contexts for decades. It is an area worth investigation because it has been established through research that gender biased textbooks provide hurdles for gender equality in many ways. Taking this as a point of departure this paper aims to examine the representation of male and female in primary level English and Urdu textbooks in Pakistan. To achieve its aim three public and private publishers i.e. AFAQ, National Book Foundation (NBF) and Oxford University Press (OUF) were selected. The text and images in these textbooks were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The representation of gender in the selected textbooks was seen through three major themes i.e. visibility of female and male through characters, photographs and narrator of the lesson; activities assigned and vocabulary used for both gender. The data clearly reveals that the visibility of males was much higher than that of females in photographs, images, characters and narrators. Regarding activities assigned to gender in all the selected textbooks women were mostly depicted to be involved in housework and engaged in personal and family activities while boys were shown to be working, playing and engaged in social activities. Finally, it was found that the vocabulary used in the textbooks was stereotypical reflecting existing gender stereotypes in the Pakistani culture. To reduce the gender biased attitude in textbooks it is suggested that a strong gender lens is needed while setting educational policies in the country.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Gender Representation in Textbooks: Insights From Sindh, Pakistan

“…This is also in line with most of the other studies which found how Pakistani textbooks taught on various levels support the patriarchal structure and reinforce the existing inequalities (See, e.g. Ali & Hussain, 2019).…”

Women Representation in Textbooks in Pakistan: Impact on Career and Study Choices of Female Students Enrolled in the Postgraduate Programmes

“…2. Ali, R., & Hussain, L. (2019). Gender representation in primary level English and Urdu textbooks in Pakistan.…”

“…The textbook regime in Pakistan is comprised of curriculum bureaus and the textbook boards constituted by each provincial ministry of education in its domain. The most recent studies (R. Ali & Hussain 2019;Iqbal, Saleem, & Ahmad 2019;Sultan, Shah, & Fazal 2019;Waqar & Ghani 2019) highlighted how the textbook regimes in Pakistan perceived women in Pakistani society and ascribed to them stereotypical roles in different stories found in textbooks. These findings were not different from the earlier studies that analysed textbooks (Aziz 1993;Mirza 2006;Nayyar & Salim 2005) in spite of more women taking up the role of textbook writers and editors but still the leading roles were given to male writers and editors.…”

“…Thus, women, in these textbooks, mostly remained confined to education, health, and farm-related jobs (Mirza 2006). The latest researchers (Adil & Yasin 2018;Aghaa, Syed, & Mirani 2018;R. Ali & Hussain 2019;Iqbal et al 2019;Sultan et al 2019) have found the following regarding female representation in the textbooks in Pakistan:…”

“…The participants read the research articles shared with them (Ahmad & Shah 2019;A. Ali, Hassan, & Hanan 2019;R. Ali & Hussain 2019;Sultan et al 2019;Waqar & Ghani 2019) suggesting that the textbooks "are gender biased" and "there is an unequal representation of both genders" (Ahmad & Shah 2019, p. 17).…”