Women and Men in Accounting Textbooks: Exploring the Hidden Curriculum

The purpose of this study is to examine the representation of gender in introductory accounting textbooks. A content analysis of the homework items, the pictures, and the stories contained in 19 introductory accounting textbooks was conducted using both a quantitative and a qualitative approach. The results show that women and men are represented very differently throughout textbooks, thereby reinforcing gender stereotypes and gender role stratification. Given the accounting profession's explicit desire to increase diversity, accounting faculty need to be more aware of the implicit messages conveyed by our pedagogical materials.