Nevertheless She Persisted: Women\u27s Representation in Government and its Effect on the Hidden Curriculum and the Representation of Women in Textbooks

This Independent Study examines how the representation of women in government affects the representation of women in textbooks. Previous scholars have examined the relationship between how textbooks affect students’ learning. They have also discussed how women’s representation in government affects different aspects of political life. Yet to be examined by scholars is the effect that the representation of women in government has on the representation of women in textbooks. By conducting a cross-national case study, this study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining the following three hypotheses. The first states that as the proportion of women represented in government increases, the proportion of mentions of women also increases. The second hypothesis states that as the proportion of women represented in government increases the number of stereotypical mentions of women in textbooks will decrease. The final hypothesis states that as the proportion of women in government increases the number of chapters with “frequent” mentions will also increases. This study conducted a content analysis of eight textbooks, four United States Introduction to Politics textbooks, and four Introduction to Canadian Politics textbooks, to examine the aforementioned hypotheses. Due to differences in data collection, this study did not find enough evidence to suggest that any of the hypotheses could be correct