ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to assess the awareness and perceptions of students and teachers in Qatari schools in relation to gender stereotyping in their textbooks. Qatar, a small, Muslim country shares a border with Saudi Arabia, has made efforts to reorganise its education system and improve the status of women in society. Educational opportunities for women remain limited by the traditional nature of societies that favour certain activities and professions for females. Gender roles and stereotypes are constituted through complex interaction among culture, society, religion and other ideological institutions and frameworks. It is also suggested that future research uses a multidimensional approach to examine perceptions of women with respect to education, occupational roles, family roles and responsibilities. The findings reveal the complexities of gender roles and inequalities in relation to culture, religion and society and for a nuanced study and understanding of the interplay of different factors with dynamic construction of gender and how it can be shaped and changed.
