GENDER DISCOURSES IN THE EXACT SCIENCES: REPRESENTATIONS AND INVISIBILITY OF WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN TEXTBOOKS.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66104/77dray46Keywords:
: Textbook; Physics Education; Gender; Women Scientists; Discourse Analysis.Abstract
This article presents a segment of a qualitative research study focused on the analysis of Physics textbooks approved by the National Textbook and Teaching Material Program and intended for secondary education in Brazilian public schools. The study is based on the understanding that textbooks are not merely pedagogical resources, but also cultural and discursive artifacts capable of producing and reproducing social norms, values, and representations. In this context, the research problematizes the following questions: how does the writing of school Physics produce gender markers in textbooks? How are women scientists discursively and visually represented in these materials? In what ways do the textual, graphic, and historical organization of Physics contribute to the maintenance of masculinized and heteronormative discourses in education? The corpus analyzed corresponds to the textbook Moderna Plus Física, by Nicolau, Torres, and Penteado, single-volume edition, 1st edition, published in São Paulo in 2024. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, documentary, and interpretative study grounded in discourse analysis in dialogue with gender studies and feminist studies of science. The selection criteria included PNLD approval, circulation in public schools, and editorial relevance. The analysis focuses on categories such as masculinity as a scientific norm, editorial visibility of women scientists, the location and extent of their appearances in the material, as well as the narrative treatment of their trajectories and contributions to Physics. The results indicate the persistence of male centrality in the historical and conceptual narrative of the discipline, while women scientists appear in a limited way, frequently displaced to side boxes, complementary notes, or curiosity sections. It is concluded that the didactic writing of Physics still operates through discursive mechanisms that reinforce gender inequalities and limit the expansion of plural scientific references in the school context.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Francisco Arlon de Oliveira Chaves Oliveira, Glaziane Soares Alvarenga, Eugenia Maria dos Santos Cordeiro, Francisca das Chagas Oliveira
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