The use of gender-neutral and gender-fair language in German and mathematics secondary school textbooks

Abstract Despite decades of policy advocacy for gender-neutral and gender-fair educational materials, little is known about how such linguistic forms are implemented textbooks. The aim of the study was to examine the use of gender-neutral and gender-fair language in contemporary German secondary level textbooks for the subjects German and mathematics. The frequency analyses and qualitative content analysis of 34 textbooks showed a dominance of the generic masculine in both subjects, while linguistic forms including nonbinary individuals were virtually absent. While efforts to use gender-neutral and gender-fair language could be noted in both subjects, these pertained to specific contexts, such as school. Furthermore, especially German textbooks aimed to implement gender-fair language in professional contexts, however, increasingly did so for stereotypically female professions and occupations with low prestige. These findings emphasize a gap between policy goals and textbook practice during a critical period of gender identity formation. Practical implications are discussed.