The gender-segregated labor market begins in primary schools

The aim of this study is to investigate how gender and class are portrayed in textbooks that are used in teachings of social studies. This study uses a qualitative research method analysising both texts and images. The theoretical framework used is intersectionality and gender perspectives developed by Hirdman (1988) and Josefson (2005). The questions focused in the study are the following: How are men and women portrayed (through both text and images) in two textbooks used in social studies? Is the portrayal of men and women based on traditionally female and male-dominated jobs? And is there a correlation between female and male characteristics in the professions that appears in the textbooks? Are men and women portrayed (in the textbooks) as if belonging to separate classes? The results show that female and male characteristics are kept apart in the textbooks, and that women and men generally are associated with traditional female and male-dominated jobs and jobs that are described by female or male characteristics. The result however shows an equal distribution of men and women in the textbooks