A content analysis of eleven college-level general chemistry textbooks was performed to ascertain the extent to which people of color are represented within the textbook photographs. The results of this study show that all of the textbooks’ photographs within this investigation include people of color at a level well below their representation in American society. In addition, photographs containing images of people of color usually depict them in a context that has no relevance to chemistry or in a manner that propagates stereotypes. It is the conclusion of these authors that contemporary undergraduate general chemistry textbooks are laden with instructional bias with respect to people of color.
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Citation
King, Denise; Domin, Daniel S. J. Chem. Educ.2007 84 342.
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