Reproduction of Gender Roles in Japan: Hidden Curriculum in the School Textbooks

• In Event: Poster session III
  In Poster Session: Poster session 3

Proposal

Relevance
This poster presentation explores how gender roles are depicted in the school textbooks in Japan. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2017 published by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranks as low as 114th among the 144 countries (2017). Although Japan tops the ranking of the enrolment rate in primary and secondary education, the gender gap is prominent at the level of economic and political participation.
As researchers have pointed out, the school textbooks in Japan contain depiction which is based on gender roles. Through the lens of previous research, how gender roles have been reproduced in the school setting is demystified. By making a comparison with the past public opinion poll on the awareness of gender roles, this poster presentation suggests critical points to be taken into consideration upon the revision of the textbooks in order to empower women in Japan.

Context
While women currently consist only 4.1 percent of the board members of the whole listed companies, Japanese government has set a goal to increase the ratio of female board members to 10 percent by 2020 (Japan Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office [JGEBCO], 2018). Although the government aims to empower women, conventional gender roles such as the “good wife and wise mother” ideology still remain in Japanese society. To understand how such gender stereotypes have been formed and retained, we must examine the role of the school in transmitting gender norms. By looking at the depiction of gender in the textbooks, this poster presentation aims to warn the risk of reproducing gender-biased views at the schools.

Research Method/Data Collection
The extensive literature review was conducted in order to collect the data of the past research on the school textbooks. Also, I interviewed primary school teachers to examine their awareness of gender roles presented in the textbooks.

Findings
In the Japanese textbooks for primary school students, the personalities of the characters in the stories are depicted differently depending on the gender (Kawano & Fujita, 2014). Also, the illustrations of women and men provide distinct images to the readers. For example, women are portrayed as if they are calm and reserved while men are illustrated as being proactive (Kawano & Fujita, 2014).
According to Nagano and Himeoka (2011), history is viewed from the male perspective in both Japanese history and world history high school textbooks. In addition to few female historical figures introduced in the textbooks, the selection of the topics in the sections assigned for gender issues is biased (Nagano and Himeoka, 2011). The history textbooks fail to provide a space for students to think of the history of gender discrimination and women’s rights critically.
As seen in the past public poll on the people’s awareness of gender roles, the gender roles hidden in the textbooks and people’s views toward gender roles share common characteristics (JGEBCO, 2016). The need for more empirical qualitative research on the causal relation between the depiction of gender roles in the textbooks and people’s awareness of gender roles has been found.

Author

• Emi Mitani, University of Pennsylvania