A Study on Gendered Portrayals in Children’s Picture Books with Mathematical Content

Abstract

This study analyzes sexism in children's picture books that incorporate mathematical problems and problem-solving into the plot to determine if children's earliest reading material is affecting the achievement gap between males and females in this subject area. The study focused not just on overall totals of male and female characters, but also analyzed which genders most often portrayed gender stereotyped behaviors and personality traits and which characters were most often shown with mathematical skills. The findings of the study show that there were twice as many male as female characters, and the math problem-solving was generally done by males in the majority of titles.