Abstract
Statement of Problem: This study provides an update on gender bias found in teacher selected read aloud choices. The study focused on the following questions: what percentage of protagonists appearing in the five books most often selected by teachers for read-alouds are male versus female; within those top five books selected, are male characters or females characters portrayed more frequently in stereotypical gender roles; do teachers believe the books listed on their top five selection are a fair representation of the genders as portrayed in the stories; and did the teachers in the study receive gender equity training in their teacher preparation programs? Sources of Data: This study included kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers. The snowball method were used to obtain participants. There were a total of 30 participants including current credentialed California teachers from public, charter and private schools. Quantitative methods were used to tally data from the surveys and count characters represented in the books. The researcher completed a qualitative content analysis using the top five read aloud children’s literature choices by participating teachers. Conclusions Reached: The study indicates that gender bias can still be found in teacher selected read aloud choices. The findings from this study are very concerning as the top five read aloud book selection consist of books which are dominated by male characters and present both genders in stereotypical roles. Of the top five frequently selected books, there were no female protagonists. An overwhelming 64% of central characters were male and females were supporting characters to the male protagonist. The majority of participants, 80% reported receiving no gender equity training. Given the lack of gender equity training among the participants it was not surprising that 40% reported not considering the gender of the characters prior to reading books aloud to their students and 44% reported sometime considering the gender of the characters prior to reading books aloud to their students. Additionally, 80% reported they believe the books they selected fairly represent the male and female characters and 67% believe the books they selected avoid stereotypes.