GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TEXTBOOKS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CONTEXT.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66104/yq68mg28Keywords:
Teaching of Chemistry; Textbook; Gender Relations; Discourse Analysis;Abstract
The aim of this research is to problematize gendered visual representations in high school Chemistry textbooks. The analysis addresses the invisibility of women scientists, gender stereotypes, androcentric language, and constructions of intellectual competence, in dialogue with the discourse analysis of Michel Foucault. The study examines a textbook from the Brazilian National Textbook and Teaching Material Program (PNLD 2026–2029), adopted in public schools in Jequié, Bahia. The results reveal a low presence of women scientists in the images and limited recognition of their contributions. There is a notable scarcity of Black women, a predominance of white women, and an almost complete absence of contemporary Brazilian women scientists. The analysis also identifies representations that reinforce traditional gender roles, such as the association of women with domestic spaces, as well as gendered and racialized depictions in everyday activities. Even when women appear in laboratory settings, their names are often omitted, which contributes to their continued invisibility. It is concluded that there is a need to critically examine and reframe gender representations in Science textbooks.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Francisco Arlon de Oliveira Chaves Oliveira, Glaziane Soares Alvarenga, Eugênia Maria dos Santos Cordeiro , Francisca das chagas Oliveira
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