Exploring the Perpetuation and Disruption of Gendered, Racial, and Working Style Stereotypes in U.S. Life Science Textbooks

Textbooks convey powerful messages to students about who can legitimately participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Using culturally relevant pedagogy as the guiding theoretical framework, this study sought to explore the extent to which secondary life science textbooks are culturally relevant in their depiction of gender, race, working style, and range of ability. Critical multicultural content analysis guided this research to explore the ways in these textbooks uphold or disrupt stereotypical notions of STEM professionals. Analysis indicated more images of females compared to males, but perpetuated notions of White, able-bodied scientists working alone. Given these findings, gendered power dynamics are being disrupted, while racial, working style, and range of ability dynamics are upheld. Implications for training pre- and in-service teachers to critically examine curriculum resources are discussed to better realize science for all students.