Women at Work

Stereotypes in English and French for Business Coursebooks

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the persistent stereotypes in English and French for business coursebooks regarding the way that women are represented at work. Based on a linguistic analysis of the texts that constitute the coursebooks, recurrent images and representations of the professional experiences, roles and status of female characters are identified. The representation of public and private spheres, and the boundary between them, is also a source of specific stereotypes relating to the differences between women and men. Conducted within a contrastive framework, the analysis reveals that the professional activity of women is presented in similar ways in the coursebooks of both languages. This article illustrates, furthermore, that even if progress has been made socially and culturally regarding the visibility of women, there is still room for improvement in the ways that women are represented in educational materials.