Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of nontraditional children’s literature on kindergartner’s attitudes toward gender roles and occupations. Adults are highly responsible for children’s attitudes and beliefs about many subject matters, including occupational stereotypes (Gettys, & Cann, 1981). Choosing nontraditional books would theoretically broaden children’s views about occupations. The data analysis intended to enlighten readers of the impact on selected nontraditional books. Did the nontraditional children’s books selected for this project make a difference on the children’s view of gender as it pertains to occupation? Did students’ attitudes and beliefs about gender roles change? Did the children choose the stereotypical gender roles for the occupations selected for this study? Did the selected books show improvement in gender role bias and stereotyping? Did any of the children draw or describe themselves in a nontraditional occupational role based on their gender? Sources of Data This mixed-methods study included kindergarten students attending a K-8 elementary school, in the Sacramento area. Kindergarten students participated in a six- week study, which exposed them to nontraditional children’s literature about ten different community service occupations. The children took part in pre- and post- surveys and an individual questionnaire in order to gauge their opinions and attitudes toward gender and occupations. This allowed the researcher to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The quantitative data was analyzed using a chi-square test in order to determine any significant changes between the pre- and post- surveys. Participants listened to various nontraditional children’s picture books about occupations. They participated in class discussions, wrote in response journals, and completed a “community workers” graph. Finally, they drew a self-portrait and wrote a sentence about their future occupational aspirations. Conclusions Reached The pre-survey of the ten community workers did not appear to be significantly stereotypic of gender roles, but the attitudes showed positive change after reading literature and discussing occupations. The findings presented positive change, particularly with the female experimental group, after listening to nontraditional children’s literature. However, due to the sample size and limitations of the treatment, more research is required to substantiate the effects of the selected children’s books.