6.

4 Depiction of frequency of appearance of occupations

The second category for identifying gender stereotypes is examination of

occupations/occupational activities in which males and females are portrayed engaged. This

particular section describes the results of the depiction of occupations in which male and

female characters have been illustrated.

6.4.1: Male and female occupations/occupational activities illustrated in English

Textbooks

The data indicate that little representation has been given to female in the illustrated

occupations.

Table 5.7 Summary of occurrence of occupations/occupational activities illustrated in English

Textbook Occupations with page numbers Freq. %

English 1 Male Vendor (p. 40), shopkeeper (garments) (p. 4 66
40), shopkeeper (toys) (p. 40), Woodcutter
(p. 95)
Female Baby-caring (p.2), teacher (p. 5), teacher 2
(p. 75)
English 2 Male Driver (p. 50), masonry (p.49), Shopkeeper 9 71
(p. 50), teacher (p. 49), teacher (p.77),
farmer (p. 81), Vendor (p.87), woodcutter
(p.115), doctor (p. 124)
Female Cooking (p. 97), teacher (p. 106), cleaning 4 29
(p. 110), Nurse (p. 124)
English 3 Male Cleaner (p. 28), cleaning 103), gardener (p. 10 63
29), Shopkeeper (p. 41) shopkeeper (p. 72),
Librarian (p. 40), boatman (p. 58), Booking-
clerk (p.72), farmer (78), cleaning (78)
Female Washing (p.103), domestic gardening, 6 37
(p.114), cooking (p. 29) cooking (p. 46),
teacher (p. 50)
English 4 Male Shopkeeper (p. 30), fire brigade (p. 32), 6 86
doctor (p. 44), farmer (p. 58), pilot (p.82),
lab-experiments (p. 102)
Female Baby-caring (p. 37) 01 14
English 5 Male Woodcutter (p. 9), Microsoft CEO (p.17), 3 60
coach (hockey) (p. 51)
Female Teacher (cover page), I.T. Engineer (p.17) 2 40
Total Males % Females % female to male ratio
token
32 74 11 26 1:2.91
 Total Males % Females % female to male ratio
(type) 16 80 04 20 1:4

The percentage of occupations for females is conspicuously low in all the English textbooks.

The highest disparity in the depiction of occupation is found in English 4 where percentage is

86 and 14 for males and females respectively. In this textbook only one image of female

taking care of a baby is drawn whereas 6 images of male indicate diverse occupations like

doctor, fire brigade, farmer, pilot and a scientist. The disparity found in other English

textbooks is also very high. In fact, female occupations like representation of characters find

little space in English textbooks. Females have been shown either performing domestic

chores in the domain of house or portrayed as nurses and lady teachers when illustrated

outside the house. Ratio of female depiction as female teachers to male teachers is 5:2. This is

the only occupation where females seem to reign as females illustration in teaching

occupation is 71 per cent as compared with male teachers, that is, 29 per cent. Image of a

lady teachers teaching mathematics have been illustrated on the cover page of Mathematics 5

while no other occupation has been illustrated on the cover pages of the textbooks. The other

most occurring female occupation is related to activities of domesticity that is, cleaning,

taking care of baby, cooking and washing etcetera. Total number of illustrated female

occupational activities is only 11 (26%).

The number of male occupation shopkeeper is the maximum which occurs 4 times in

English textbooks. Next is the profession of woodcutter which has been drawn three times

and that farming appears twice. There are twenty type occupations out of which 16 (80%) are

related to males. Contrary to it females are only 4 (25%). Whereas there are 40 token

occupations out which 25 (62%) are male occupations and 15 (38%) are associated with

females. The ratio is 2.67:3 which is very significant when calculate statistically.
The results depict that females have been mostly portrayed in the occupations related to

domesticity like cleaning, sweeping, taking care of children and domestic gardening. The

outside occupations for women are teaching and nursing. However, one hero of Pakistani

history Arfa Karim, the worlds youngest IT Engineer, has been depicted. She is surrounded

by two male tycoons of IT Software. On the other hand the occupations for males drawn in

the English textbooks are varied and diverse. They range from vendor to farmer to

shopkeeper to software CEO. Males have also been drawn in the occupation of fire brigade,

rowing, doctor, scientist, booking clerk and woodcutter etcetera. Total token occupations are

43 in English textbooks out of which 32 (74%) are male. Frequency of occupation which

appears in each English textbook has been given in the following table which indicates that

line of males are much higher than that of females.

5.3.2 Representation of male and female characters in primary textbooks of Urdu

Summary of occurrences of male and female occupations illustrated in Urdu

Textbook Occupations with page numbers Freq %
.
Urdu 1 Male Doctor (p. 4), porter (p. 25), Shopkeeper 05 83
(p.), farmer (p. 16), executive (p. 20)
Female Cooking (p. 26) 01 17
Urdu 2 Male Railway ticket checker (p. 79), labourer (p. 11 85
127), masonry (p. 128), carpenter (p. 128),
tailor (p. 128), Executive (p. 149), porter
(p. 150), Railway-guard (p. 150), Railway-
driver (p. 150), shopkeeper (p. 153), Taxi
driver (p. 154)
Female Teacher (p. 102 & 140), 02 15
Urdu 3 Male Labourer (p. 3), hunter (p. 3), Railway 05 62
Guard (p. 50), King (p. 61), Farmer (p. 89)
Female Teacher (p. 3), labourer (p. 81), cooking 03 38
(p. 80)
Urdu 4 Male Driver (p. 43) driver (86), politician (p. 04 80
75), Shopkeeper (snack-bar) (p. 83),
Female Teacher (p. 87) 01 20
Urdu 5 Male Farmer (p. 66), politician (p. 66), cooking 05 83
(p. 75), policeman (p. 103), soldier (p.
103),
Female Teacher (p. 100) 01 17
Total occupations Male 30 81% Male to female ration
 (token) Female 07 19% 4.29:1
Total occupations Male 16 81% Male to female ration
(type) Female 04 19% 4:1

An examination of Table 5.6 reveals that males have been pegged in a wide of working field

in the textbooks of Urdu. Male characters have been pegged to 17 type employments whereas

female ones have been portrayed in 4 careers only. The ratio between female and male

occupations is 1:4.25. The gap between the pegging of male and female type employments is

statistically very significant. As regards token occupations, there are seven female token

occupations compared with thirty male employments. The ration between portrayal of female

and male token employments is 1 to 4.29 which is almost equal to that of ratio of type

occupations. So token and type female occupations are in limited range. Each textbook also

indicates high quantity of disparity between the pegging on occupations. In Urdu 1, Urdu 2

and Urdu 5 the ration between male and female employments is five to one which is highly

significant. Female characters seem to be eliminated from the world of Urdu language

textbooks which is national language of Pakistan. The highest number of female occupations

has been pegged in Urdu 3 with frequency 3 (38%) and female to male ratio is 1:1.66. Urdu

2 contains two female occupations whereas Urdu of grade 1, 4 and 5 have only one

occupational illustration each. The maximum number of male occupations (11) occurs in

Urdu 2 and the percentage of male to female occupations is 85 and 15 respectively. High

imbalance and disparity gap is marked in Urdu 2 and Urdu 5 as well where percentage of

male occupations is 85 and 83 respectively. In Urdu 4 female occupations are 20 per cent as

compared with 80 per cent males. The least disparity has been found in Urdu 3 where ratio

between male to female characters is 1.66:1. And female occupations are 38 per cent of the

total occupations pegged in Urdu 3. In this textbook there is maximum appearance of female

occupations, that is, three.

As a whole, Urdu textbooks for grade one to five are dominated by male occupations with

eighty one per cent compared with nineteen per cent female employment representation.

Females are again invisible from the world of Urdu with respect to occupation as is the case

in English textbooks.

What can be noted also is the stereotyping of pegging of the occupations. The careers that

relate to service provision of nursing, first aid, counselling and teaching have in most cases

been pegged to females. These are highly stereotypical feminine occupations. Leadership

positions such as kingship are given to males only. All characters depicted as drivers,

farmers, soldiers, carpenters and masons are males. In addition the pegging of occupations to

males relates mostly to use of newer technology in a given field. For examples, the depicted

male farmers use insecticides and plough unlike the female gardener who uses an ordinary

pipe to water flowers and plants in a garden near the home.

6.3. Results of male and female occupations illustrated in General Knowledge

This section contains results of appearance of occupations associated with female and male

characters.

Table 5.8 Summary of male and female occupations illustrated in General Knowledge

Textbooks Type of Occupation Freq. %

General Male Lab-experiment (p. 30), baker (p. 35), 10 91
Knowledge 1 butcher (p. 35), shopkeeper (medical store)
(p. 35), Shopkeeper (toys) (p. 36),
shopkeeper (cloths) (p.36), shopkeeper
(fruit-stall) (p.36) shopkeeper (general store)
(p. 36), Driver (bus) (p. 40), porter (p. 40)
Female Teacher (p. 29), 01 09
Knowledge 2 Male Driver (car) (p. 27) driver (Rickshaw) (p. 18 75
34), farmer (p. 32), Office-employees (p.
32), police-Sargent (p. 34), judge (p. 38),
Baker (p. 45), plumber (p. 50), carpenter
(p. 50), Electrician (p. 50), blacksmith (p.
50), mason (p. 50), painter (p. 50), cart-
driver (horse, ox & donkey) (p. 50), Miner
(oil) (p. 80) miner (coal) (p. 80)
Female Labour (garments-factory) (p. 32), pulling 6 25
fodder machine (p. 32) water from tap (p.
 32) washing clothes (39), fetching water
(from filter) (p. 76), washing clothes (p.76),
washing pots (p. 76)
General Male Farmer (p. 29), motor-mechanic (p. 29), 14 82
Knowledge 3 masonry (p. 29), doctor (p. 29), soldier (p.
30), cobbler (p. 30), driver (p. 30) driver
(37), hunting (p. 35), labourer (p. 37),
labourer (44), labourer (46), labourer (51),
farmer (p. 46)
Female Teacher (p. 29), nurse (p. 30), cooking (p. 3 18
32),
Total token Male % Female % Female to male ratio
occupations 42 81 10 19 1:4.2
Total type Male % Female % Female to male ratio
occupations 25 83 05 17 1:5

Data in Table 5.14 indicates females being underrepresented in occupations illustrated in

General Knowledge (GK) textbooks. Total 42 male (81%) and 10 female (19%) occupations

have been identified. The imbalance in the depiction of occupations is in favour of males with

a ratio of male to female occupations is 4.2:1. Male occupations far surpass the females in

General Knowledge with ratio 1:10 of female to male occupations. Eighty two per cent male

and eighteen per cent female occupations have been identified in GK 3. In GK 2 ration of

occupations of males (18) to that of females (6) is 4:1. So it is noticeable that in the three

General Knowledge textbooks male occupations are in excess. Female are badly ignored in

the domain of general knowledge.

6.3.4 Results of male and female occupations illustrated n the textbooks of Social Studies

The results given in table 5.9 suggest that double male occupations have been embedded in

the general knowledge textbooks of grade one to three. Social Studies 4 contains 6

occupations out of 2 are female and 4 are male one. Similarly, ratio of male to female

occupations is 2:1 in Social Studies 5. Over all percentage of female and male occupations is

33 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.

Table 5.8 Summary of male and female occupations illustrated in Social Sciences
Textbooks Type of Occupation Freq. %
 Social Male Doctor (p. 48), Labourer (p. 48), farmer (p. 4 67
Studies 4 51), drum beater (p. 51)
Female Teacher (p.48), labourer (picking cotton) 02 33
(p. 51)
Social Male Porter, Engrossing, farmer (all on the 7 73
Studies 5 inside of cover page), politician (p. 46),
painting (p. 46), drum beating (p. 46),
Female Domesticity (spinning thread, churning 03 27
milk, fetching water) (p. 50)
Total token Male % Female % Male to female ratio
occupations 11 69 05 31 2.2:1
Total type Male % Female %
occupations 9 75 3 25 3:1

Social study subject is taught in grade 4 and 5 in primary schools in the Punjab after three

years study of General Knowledge. There are total 9 (75%) type occupations males have

been drawn whereas females have been drawn in in 3 (25%) which are one third of male

occupations. With regard to token occupations the ration for male to female is 2.2:1. Token

occupations drawn are 11and 5 for males and females respectively. Social Studies of grade 4

contains (4) 67 per cent and grade 5 (7) 73 per cent male while 33 and 27 per cent female

occupations in grade 4 (2) and 5 (3) respectively.

6.3.5 Results of male and female occupations illustrated in General Scien

Table 5.8 Summary of male and female occupations illustrated in General Sciences

Textbooks Type of Occupation Freq. %

General Male Doctor (p. 1& 30), Tonga-driver (p. 72), 05 56

Science 4 vendor (p. 72), lab-technician (p. 87),

Female Nurturing baby(p. 73), domestic chores 04 44

(fetching & drawing water from well (p. 37

& 78), musician (p. 84)

General Male Doctor (p. 1), lab-biologist (p. 25), cleaning 3 75

Science 5 (p. 26)

 Female Domestic Chore (Cleaning) (p. 39) 1 25

Total token Male % Female % Ratio

8 62 05 38 1.6:1

Total type Male % Female %

5 71 2 29 2.5:1

The number of occupations shown in the General Science like Social Studies is low but the

gap in the occurrence of male and female ones not much different. Total eight token and 5

type male occupations have been recognized in the two science textbooks. Ratio of

appearance of male and female is 2.5:1 and 1.6:1 in type and token occupations respectively.

General Science 5 includes 9 occupations divided into 5 (56%) and 4 (44%) for males and

females respectively. In this textbook gap in depiction of gender is not much big. However,

big gap in occurrence of male and female occupations have been identified in General

Science 5 where ration is 3:1.

Summary of occurrences of male and female occupations illustrated in Urdu

Type of Occupation Freq %

Mathematics 1 Male 0 0 0

Female 0 0 0

Mathematics 2 Male Gardener (p. 92), Shopkeeper (p.125), 3 60

vendor(p. 126)

Female Teacher (p.37 & 133), 02 40

Mathematics 3 Male Vendor (p.48), farm owner (p. 70) 02 67

Female Teacher (p.113) 01 33

 Mathematics 4 Male Lab experiments (cover page) 01 100

Female 0 0 0

Mathematics 5 Male Teacher (cover page) 01 100

Female Teacher (cover page) 01 100

Total occupations (token) Male % Female % Total

06 60 4 40% 10

Total occupations (type) Male % Female %

05 83 1 17 6

In mathematics textbooks visuals have been identified in Mathematics 1, 2 and 3.

Mathematics 4 contains a man making experiments in the lab on the cover page whereas

Mathematics has an illustration of a lady teacher on the cover page. So there ten token and six

type occupations illustrated in the mathematics textbooks. Teaching is the only occupation

drawn four times in mathematics textbooks. So the ratio of male female type occupations is

5:1 and 1.5:1 for token occupations. Frequency of male occurrence is 3 and 2 in mathematics

for grade 2 and 3 respectively while the female occupation appearance frequency is 2 and 1 in

the foresaid mathematics textbooks. Overall male occupations occupy 60 per and female one

get 40 per cent representation in five mathematics textbooks.

5.4 Over summary of frequency of appearance of male and female occupations

(type & token)

Male Occupations Freq. Male Freq. Female Occupations Freq.

Occupations
office clerk 2 Domestic Activities 18
driver 14 hockey coach 1 teacher 15
shopkeeper 13 cobbler 1 nurse 2
Farmer 10 electrician 1 Mothering 2
doctor 8 engrossing 1 labourer 4
labourer 8 fire brigade 1 gardening 1
mason 4 gardener 2 sweeper 1
porter 4 hunter 1 1
Railway employee 4 judge 1
vendor 5 king 1
lab experiment 5 librarian 1
executive 3 mechanic 1
politician 3 CEO 2
sweeper 3 miner 1
woodcutter 3 musician 1
baker 2 painter 1
carpenter 2 pilot 1
cooking 2 plumber 1
drum beater 2 policeman 2
soldier 2 rower 1
teacher 2 tailor 1
blacksmith 1 technician 1
butcher 1

Total gender type %

Male 44 86
Female 7 14