Depictions of females and males in Mozambican and Victorian (Australia) primary mathematics textbooks

Abstract

The depiction of females and males in Mozambican Primary Mathematics textbooks for grades 6 and 7 were examined, and comparisons made with Victorian  (Australia) textbooks for years 5 and 6. It was found that mathematics learning was portrayed as a  male domain in the Mozambican textbooks, reflecting what used to be the case with Australian texts of the 1970s, although there are some differences between the two countries that may be culturally based. The Victorian textbooks depicted mathematics learning as a domain for all children, and in the majority of categories examined, females and males were distributed fairly evenly. Compared to earlier reported findings, there was a general improvement in the portrayal of females in Victorian textbooks.