An Analysis for Gender Stereotypes of Illustrations in Middle School Science Paper Textbooks and Digital Textbooks Developed under the 2015 Revised National Curriculum

This study analyzed illustrations presented in middle school science 14 paper textbooks and 14 digital textbooks under the 2015 revised curriculum in terms of gender stereotypes. In both paper and digital textbooks, the most common type of illustration was multiple pupils. For pupils, the frequency of gender was balanced in both paper and digital textbooks. However, there were differences among publishers in digital textbooks. In both paper and digital textbooks, girls showed a higher frequency than boys in learning activities. However, the opposite tendency was observed in nonlearning activities. In particular, non- learning activities of digital textbooks showed gender imbalance among all publishers. In both paper and digital textbooks, behavioral characteristics were mostly described to be active without gender differences. But, there were differences among publishers in digital textbooks. For adults, men showed a higher frequency than women in both paper and digital textbooks. Gender frequency was balanced in family activities, however, men showed a higher frequency in social activities. Unlike paper textbooks, digital textbooks were gender balanced in occupational activities. In both paper and digital textbooks, the number of occupations in which men appeared more frequently was higher than that in which women appeared more frequently. Especially, men showed a higher frequency than women in both scientist and researcher. Behavioral characteristics were mostly biased in terms of gender in both paper and digital textbooks.