This work is funded by the R&D&I Project PID2023-149084OB-I00 financed by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, entitled: Female labour inclusion in STEAM professions: analysis of discourses on women in the STEAM field in school textbooks in democratic Spain.

The research presented here addresses the visibility of women's contributions in secondary school textbooks. It is based on a historical bias in educational materials that tends to omit or distort the role of women in human progress, particularly in STEM disciplines (Aldrin, 2025; Bataineh, et al., 2024; López-Navajas, 2014). It should be noted that several studies emphasise the role of school textbooks as a tool for cultural legitimisation that shapes students' identities and expectations (Ferreras-Listán, M. & Jiménez-Pérez, R. 2013). This study connects the production and use of educational knowledge with its social effects (EERA, 2026) and aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (quality education) and 5 (gender equality) of the 2030 Agenda. In this way, it seeks to respond to the international urgency to transform curricular materials into instruments of equity that eliminate gender bias and promote inclusive quality education (UNESCO, 2021). On the other hand, it addresses the guidelines of the European Education Area and the Gender Equality Strategy. On the other hand, it follows the guidelines of the European Education Area and the Gender Equality Strategy, emphasising that the recovery of female genealogies in textbooks is not only a historical debt, but also a requirement for advancing towards effective equality (European Commission, 2020).

In line with the above, this study poses the following research question: What is the frequency, quality and narrative of female presence in textbooks? To this end, it analyses which attributes or stereotypes are associated with women and how they are included in school textbooks. In short, the aim is to elucidate whether women are recognised for individual achievements or whether their representation continues to be restricted to secondary, episodic or merely anecdotal roles.

Thus, the overall objective of the study is to analyse the representation of women in school textbooks, not only by quantifying their presence, but also by evaluating the reason for their inclusion. The aim is to identify the extent to which the pedagogical narrative reproduces or dismantles gender stereotypes, with the purpose of providing credible role models that allow female students to project their professional identity on equal terms.

From a contextual perspective, we find ourselves in a scenario of uncertainty in which education should reactivate humanistic and ethical training (Nussbaum, 2010; UNESCO, 2021). Far from being a neutral artefact, school textbooks select which knowledge, discourses and figures deserve to be preserved in school memory, relegating others to oblivion through processes of omission. Finally, contributions from theories on the representativeness gap (Frabotta, 2021; Rivas-Sepúlveda & Lamas-Huerta, 2024) are incorporated to explain how the absence of female role models in science and technology not only distorts the historical understanding of knowledge but also limits the aspirations of young women by reinforcing persistent biases that disconnect women from the production of technical knowledge.

This paper presents the results of an analysis of Spanish textbooks for compulsory secondary education published in 2023 and 2024, following the latest reform of educational content in Organic Law 3/2020 (LOMLOE, 2020). This is an in-depth pilot study with a methodological approach based on content analysis, aimed at identifying named characters from different fields (society, culture, politics, arts, science, mythology, among others). The quantifiable data were recorded and processed in a relational database designed ad hoc, using a matrix for the collection and processing of information (Moreno-Crespo et al., 2022). The total sample for this study consists of eight textbooks corresponding to four subjects related to STEM: Physics and Chemistry (2), Biology and Geology (2), Technology (2) and Mathematics (2). A total of 458 named entries were analysed.

The research confirms an emerging trend towards numerical equity in the iconography of STEM textbooks. However, this progress is interpreted as a form of numerical inclusion. Although the number of female figures is increasing, their presence tends to be more representative than substantive. Similarly, the fundamental concepts of the subjects analysed continue to be presented from an androcentric perspective (e.g., Thales' theorem, Newton's law, Archimedes' principle), which reinforces a narrative in which abstract thinking and the formulation of natural laws are associated as inherently masculine attributes (Frabotta, 2021). In this context, while men appear as ‘authors,’ women tend to be portrayed as ‘collaborators,’ linked to domestic tasks or referred to by generic terms. This limits the recognition of women's authorship and dilutes the intellectual property of their findings in the minds of students (Rodríguez-Aparicio, 2025; Zambrano et al., 2025). For future society to move towards effective equality, 21st-century textbooks must go beyond the mere visual incorporation of women in laboratory settings. It is essential to construct a scientific genealogy in which women do not appear as added presences, but as identifiable protagonists with their own names. Only in this way can invisibility be broken down, encouraging new generations to recognise women as producers of culture and science (Rivas-Sepúlveda & Lamas-Huerta, 2024). Overall, the results suggest that current textbooks do not sufficiently promote a critical attitude; Therefore, the following recommendations are made: (1) balance roles and levels of prominence between genders; (2) incorporate a critical perspective that allows for the identification of stereotypes linked to gender inequalities; (3) highlight women's contributions to promote their recognition; and (4) strengthen their presence as role models for students by showing omitted or masculinised career paths as viable options.

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