Presentation of Women and Gilligan's Ethic of Care in College Textbooks, 1970–1990: An Examination of Bias

A content analysis of the presentation of women and the ethic of care in 1,206 sections from 69 college textbooks published between 1970 and 1990 reveals that the increased attention to gender and moral development following Gilligan's (1982) In a Different Voice may not have resulted in a substantially broadened presentation of gender. Tallies of citations of research evidence, attention to sex and ethnicity of participants, and presentation style that either exaggerates (alpha bias) or minimizes (beta bias) gender were examined. College textbooks published after 1982 presented greater coverage, citation of research, and alpha bias in sections on the ethic of care and related constructs than did texts published before 1982. The need for textbook authors to discuss gender from the perspective of social constructionism is explored.