Women have been largely underrepresented and historically excluded from most Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields; this study focuses on chemistry. The absence of science role models that look like students in the classroom is a hindrance in the formation of science identity. Science identity is when a person perceives themselves as a contributor to science and recognizes themselves as a scientist, an important aspect when explaining the gender gap in STEM. Textbooks play a critical role in teaching and learning science; they provide a major resource not only for instructor curriculum but also for student reference. In order to supplement existing literature by evaluating recent editions and conducting a more comprehensive review; a coding rubric was used, created based on previously published work, the general chemistry textbooks were analyzed to determine the frequency of historical figures, distinguished by gender, mentioned in the chapter readings, as well as the representation of males and females alike, including videos and images. Results indicated there were much higher levels of both male representation and historical figures included across the texts. The implication of this being potential harm to students' academic performance and lack of retention and progression of women as chemists.

Evaluation of female scientists and representation in general chemistry textbooks

ACS Spring 2022

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