Gender representation in contemporary Grade 10 Business Studies textbooks in South Africa
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Date
2014
Authors
Maistry, Suriamurthee Moonsamy
Pillay, Preya
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State
Abstract
There is a distinct attempt on the part of the state to reposition the textbook as a key
teaching and learning resource in South African schools. While the textbook industry
has responded to the growing demand for better quality textbooks and attempted to
embrace the tenets of the country’s Constitution, especially as it relates to the issue
of gender discrimination, there remains a great deal of uncertainty as to the extent to
which attempts at gender equality have moved beyond technical cleansing in South
African school textbooks. This article reports on a qualitative study that engaged the
tenets of Critical Discourse Analysis as the key analytical frame. The Huckin’s (1997)
framework for Critical Discourse Analysis was used to analyse data from the selected
textbooks. A purposive sample of two contemporary South African Business Studies
textbooks was selected to investigate the phenomenon of gender representation. The
findings of this study revealed that stereotypes of women and men are both implicitly
and overtly reinforced in the selected textbooks. Women were shown more frequently
in home settings than were men. Men were shown in a wider variety of occupational
roles than were women. In both texts, more males were represented in leadership
positions in government, economic and corporate institutions. Finally, the portrayal of
firstness presented the male pronoun first in sentences and conversation as opposed
to the female pronoun. The findings have implications for several stakeholders, as it
reveals the subtext of Business Studies textbook content that appears normal and
natural.
Description
Keywords
Gender, Stereotypes, Representation, Textbooks, CDA
Citation
Maistry, S. M., & Pillay, P. (2014). Gender representation in contemporary Grade 10 Business Studies textbooks in South Africa. Perspectives in Education, 32(4), 74-92.