Socio-occupational Representations of Women in Primary School Textbooks during the Spanish and Portuguese Transitions to Democracy from 1974 to 1982

Abstract

In the mid-1970s, after the end of military dictatorships, Spain and Portugal experienced a transition to democracy that promoted the establishment of regimes committed to achieving gender equality in public and private life. Women saw significant advancements in education and employment rights, enabling them to have more job opportunities. Using critical discourse analysis, we examine the socio-occupational representation of women in primary textbooks from Spain and Portugal from 1974 to 1982 in order to assess whether state-approved textbooks accurately reflected the reframed female role in society. The results show a lack of female characters depicted in economically rewarding roles and the persistent presence of gender segregation in the workforce’s horizontal and vertical dimensions.