Analysis of Gender Representations in Recommended Biology Textbooks Used by Senior School Students in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The controversy and inconsistent reports on gender difference in students’ performance in Biology are yet to abate. As part of the contributions to address the challenge, this study was designed to analyze gender representations in recommended biology textbooks used by senior school students in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Seven Biology textbooks were purposively selected and analyzed in the study, while four research questions were raised and answered. The instrument used for data collection was a proforma designed by the researchers and used to record the identified masculine, feminine, and gender neutral words, colours, pictures, and diagrams. Findings indicated that the selected Biology textbooks contained 39.1%, 32.5%, and 28.4% gender neutral, masculine, and feminine words, respectively. Also, findings revealed that the selected Biology textbooks contained 51.7%, 48.1%, and 0.4% gender neutral, feminine, and masculine colours, while 99.1%, 0.6%, and 0.3% gender neutral, feminine, and masculine pictures and diagrams were observed in the selected Biology textbooks. In addition, findings indicated that there was no gender balance in the textbooks considered in the study. The study concluded that all the selected Biology textbooks contained gender representation in words, colours, pictures, and diagrams that were imbalanced in representations. It was therefore recommended that Biology textbook authors should revisit their textbooks and amend the observed inequality in gender representations to avoid the promotion of gender bias and partiality among the upcoming generations.