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Given the research on educational materials, characters, and students’ learning, are all students provided with enough windows to expose them to people and experiences that do not reflect their daily experiences? To explore this question, this report examines studies of character presentation in educational materials in two ways. First, what is the representation of groups? How many characters represent different racial, ethnic, and gender groups? Second, how are characters from different racial, ethnic, and gender groups portrayed?

While this report explores some social identity groups, there may be similar implications to be drawn for identity groups not listed. The studies included here will not be reflective of all materials used in each state, district, program, and classroom, nor capture every sub-group and cultural nuance. But the patterns and trends presented here in representation and portrayal in educational materials have implications for educators, policymakers, developers, and other stakeholders.

Scholars have noted an underrepresentation of characters from diverse cultural groups in print books of all kinds, whether children’s picture books or textbooks.⁹ Several content analyses have indicated that, in children’s literature, White characters are presented in books significantly more (about 90 percent of books in Sandra Hughes-Hassell & Ernie J. Cox’s 2010 study on board books) than characters of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities (i.e., African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Alaskan Native, American Indian, Native Hawaiian).¹⁰ Bilingual or Spanish language books have a similar trend, with concept books featuring a majority of White characters. Storybooks had a mixture of White and Hispanic characters.¹¹ Scholars estimate that characters representing more than one race may be presented in about 1 percent of books.¹²

In a 2019 study, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center examined the frequency of children’s books by and about BIPOCs published in the United States. They found that of the 3,717 books they received from U.S. publishers, 451 (12 percent) were about Black people or those of African descent; 328 (8.8 percent) were about Asians; 5 (0.13 percent) were about Pacific Islanders; 235 (6.3 percent) were about Latinx individuals; 43 (1.2 percent) were about Indigenous people; and 32 (0.86 percent) were about Arabs.¹³ The remainder of those books were about White characters, brown-skinned characters with no identifiable cultural affiliation, or anthropomorphized characters, or they featured pictures of objects.

A study of middle-school health textbooks found 51 percent of images featuring BIPOCs (multiple racial groups) and 49 percent of images showing White people.¹⁴ A 2020 analysis of award-winning books showed this breakdown of the frequency of portrayals: 68.5 percent White, 8.7 percent Black, 8.7 percent Asian, 4.3 percent Latinx, 2.2 percent American Indian, 2.2 percent Island born, 2.2 percent Middle Eastern, 1.1 percent unknown, and 1.1 percent multiple.¹⁵

Additional studies of children’s books and young adult literature have indicated a similar pattern of disparities in racial and ethnic character representations in books.¹⁶ Research on U.S. history textbooks indicate White, European Americans are featured in over half of pictorials and illustrations. In some cases, it is more than 80 percent.¹⁷ Representation of people from BIPOC backgrounds are rarely featured, with some ethnic groups featured as low as 1 percent.

These racial and ethnic representations do not reflect demographics given in the 2020 U.S. Census, where 61.6 percent of the population is identified as White, 18.7 percent Hispanic or Latinx, 12.4 percent Black or African American, 6 percent Asian, 1.1 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2 percent Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, 8.4 percent some other racial population, and 10.2 percent multiracial.

There are fewer studies that quantify representation of different racial and ethnic groups in educational and instructional materials that are not books. One study examined classroom and school posters for purchase on websites and found that 13 percent of these were likely to be racially inclusive.¹⁸ While there are limited studies on a variety of instructional materials, many studies on non-educational television programming, films, and commercials designed for children, tweens, and teens have indicated disparities in racial and ethnic group representation similar to that seen in books.¹⁹

In sum, studies on books and other materials reveal that White characters are more prominent than BIPOC characters. The data suggest that it is likely that students who identify as White will see mirrors of themselves more often than students from BIPOC communities.

Before presenting an aggregate of findings, it is valuable to note that many studies of educational materials typically examine gender from a binary perspective (e.g., female and male), though there are a few studies that recognize gender diversity. Therefore, many of the studies included in this section may not provide findings for nonbinary gender groups.²⁰

Since the late 20th century, scholars have indicated a gender disparity in character representation and limited representation of female characters.²¹ Lenore T. Weitzman and colleagues’ seminal study on 1967–1971 award-winning and runner-up children’s books revealed there were 11 times as many illustrated human males featured than female characters. Of gendered animal characters, the ratio of male to female was 95:1.²²

Scholars have built on Weitzman’s examination and typically studied a sample of books published in a five-year period. Findings indicate an increase in female, human representation: a 33 percent increase from books published between 1972 to 1979, a 42 percent increase from 1980 to 1985, and a 44 percent increase from 1986 to 1991.²³ A sample of books from 1995 to 1999 shows an equivalence of female (40 percent) and male characters (39 percent) as main characters. There was a slight variation in illustrated characters, 24 percent female to 31 percent male.²⁴ A 2006 study of popular children’s books from 1995 to 2001 suggests males were twice as likely to be adult characters than females, with 23 percent more male child characters than female.²⁵

Ten years ago, one study examined gender representation from 1938 to the end of the 20th century and found a fluctuation of gender representation of child central characters. At some points, males and females are close to equal; at others, males are featured about twice as much as females. There are few instances of females presented more than males.²⁶ Of the 120 main characters from these books, about 58 percent were male and 42 percent were female. In 2018, an analysis of more than 1,400 images in health textbooks, published in Educational Studies, showed men 46 percent of the time, compared to 54 percent for women.²⁷

Studies show characters of gender-diverse communities are underrepresented and misrepresented, though little is known about the frequency of these characters within books published.²⁸ A 2020 study of award-winning books revealed 97 percent of them included male and female characters and no instances of nonbinary representation.²⁹ Scholars who have investigated LGBTQ-themed books found that 14 percent of primary characters in those books were transgender and 21 percent of secondary characters were transgender.³⁰

Research into educational computer software identified a similar difference in gender representation. A study from the 1990s of gendered representation of characters in mathematical software for prekindergarten to high school grades showed 25 percent of the characters were female and 75 percent were male.³¹ There was a gradual decrease in female characters between pre-K (about 40 percent representation) to fifth grade (about 26 percent), then another decrease between fifth to eighth grade (about 17 percent), and an additional decrease between eighth to 12th grade (about 13 percent). Later studies of software for early childhood grades indicated an increase in female representation. A 2001 study on early childhood literacy software found that 42 percent were female characters. Of main characters, 47 percent had no identifiable gender, 37 percent were male, and 16 percent were female.³² An additional study examining main characters for three- to six-year-olds showed that 63 percent were male, 26 percent had no identifiable gender, and 11 percent were female.³³

Scholars have also analyzed gender representation in other forms of educational and instructional materials. A 1999 study of major characters in educational television programming showed males had a higher percentage of representation (about 58 percent) than females (about 42 percent).³⁴ And a recent study analyzing posters for classroom walls showed, of those that presented people, 16 percent included depictions of people from a marginalized gender group. However, specific gender groups were not listed.³⁵

Various studies have quantified characters representing intersectional identities based on race, ethnicity, and gender. A 1970s study of reading materials revealed 4 percent were male and from racial or ethnic minorities and 3 percent were female and from racial or ethnic minorities. A later study of children’s literature by Melanie Koss of Northern Illinois University and Kathleen Paciga of Columbia College School examined the racial/ethnic and gender groups of 120 main characters and found that for White characters, 54 percent were male and 46 percent were female; for American Indian characters, 50 percent were male and 50 percent female; for Black characters, 80 percent were male and 20 percent female; and for Asian and Asian American characters, 75 percent were male and 25 percent female. At least one Latinx character was female. All Middle Eastern characters were male. The only Island-born character was female.³⁶ It is more likely, therefore, for intersectional characters to be racially and ethnically White than any other group.