An Analysis of the Pictures in Physics Textbooks in Terms of Gender Roles

Education is one of the fundamental needs of individuals. However, sometimes undesirable attitudes such as gender discrimination can be taught through textbooks or other resources in educational activities. This study aimed to explore the images in textbooks in terms of gender roles. Physics textbooks were analyzed considering the use of images of men and women, the professions they belong to, and the people, places, and actions in which they are shown together. Physics textbooks used in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades in Gumushane in the 2018-2019 academic year were examined. In this research, conducted in a qualitative research design, the document analysis technique was used for the data collection. The data were analyzed with the content analysis technique. The results showed that the images in physics textbooks include more male images, and the male gender is more often represented in professional professions and artists, and men are often depicted alone or as public actors, with professional staff, and outdoors. Female figures, on the other hand, are shown less in the textbooks, and they have taken on the duties assigned to women by the society, which are mostly inside the house. Based on this, the results reveal that Physics textbooks show a favorable position for men and that and the representation of gender roles is applied unequally. Moreover, it is also observed that traditional gender roles are displayed in textbooks through hidden curricula.