Moral education textbooks contain the most stereotypes

Even though traditional gender stereotypes were present in the textbooks for all subjects, the most stark contrast between the genders was seen in one textbook on the Catholic faith. In this book, boys and me of all ages were almost always in the spotlight, playing active roles.

The report notes that males are characterised as having a variety of different roles: They play sports, are interested in various activities, disobey the rules, give advice, travel and behave honourably. In ethics textbooks, characters engaged in public activities are more frequently men.

Women are more often depicted as playing a secondary role alongside the main characters, men. For example, women are depicted as providing care and comfort, with female main characters appearing in fewer than one in five stories. Quotes from the book that were highlighted in the report include:

“A man must know how to defend himself. A man has to answer for his actions."

"’Aliukas, don’t be mad at me, be a man – don’t cry’, I tell him, knowing full well that he was hurt because of me.”

"What I want most is for the (car) to be white and for the whole class to see me taking a taking a seat like some princess in my dad’s car <…>”

Geography and history textbooks highlight male achievements

When looking at the materials for geography classes, it became evident that they were dominated by men’s feats and achievements. Meanwhile, history textbooks tended to omit women altogether when it came to historical figures, which are usually dominated by men. This may create the false impression that women have not contributed to history at all.

It was also found that, despite some positive exceptions, textbooks often mentioned women without stating their names, in effect depersonalising them.

None of the teaching materials examined mentioned LGBT+ individuals, whether in terms of the achievements of this community or the broader evolution of the civil rights movement.

The report recommends that "In order for students to have access to high-quality human rights-based teaching materials, it is important for education policy makers and movers see gender equality as a fundamental, top-priority principle, developing a coherent strategy for its implementation."

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