GENDER REPRESENTATION IN MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOKS IN AZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR

Abstract

Gender representation in textbooks has been a subject of academic research and debate the world over. Nevertheless, in the developing world in general and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in particular, gender representation in textbooks, especially in Mathematics textbooks, has not received due academic attention. This study examined gender representation in Mathematics textbooks used in primary schools in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The main focus was to examine whether or not Mathematics textbooks reproduce or challenge the stereotypical representation of men’s and women’s activities and social roles. Following the procedure of content analysis of a school material, adopted by the feminists of the second-wave, both quantitative and qualitative content analyses were employed for the current research. The analysis of the gender representation in 5 Mathematics textbooks from class 1 to class 5 unpacked that Mathematics textbooks, reinforce and reproduce gender stereotypes by portraying men/boys in the public domain (playing games, driving, running shops, doing and investing in businesses etc.) and women /girls in the private domain of home (engaged in cooking, home decoration, helping out their children in homework etc.). The overall inference made from the content analyses was that the mathematics textbooks used in the primary schools of Azad Jammu and Kashmir represent public domain as men’s world while women/girls are depicted in the private domain of home engaged in cooking, raring children and other domestic chores.