Science textbooks for lower secondary schools in Brunei: issues of gender equity

Abstract

This paper is concerned with issues affecting equity in science education for girls and boys. In the paper the results of an investigation into the recently published (1998–2000) series of textbooks entitled Lower Secondary Science for Brunei Darussalam are presented. In the first part of the paper, background issues of continuing gender inequality in science education and of the nature and scope of textbook analyses are outlined. Then the representation of males and females in both illustrations and text in the Bruneian textbooks is discussed. From this analysis a picture emerges of the extent to which science is portrayed as a pursuit of equal appropriateness for both boys and girls. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of the findings presented within the wider context of gender and education in Brunei.