The gender issue in migrant representation: a case study on Italian school textbooks and

online newspapersValentina Tudisca, Adriana Valente

CNR-IRPPS

Cagliari, June 6 2019Scuola democratica First International Conference

Imago migrantis project: studying representation of migrants in Italian textbooks and online newspapers

Research question: understanding to what extent and how migrant women are represented in Italian school textboooks and online newspapers

A tradition of studies at CNR-IRPPS since early 2000 (FP6 Biohead Citizen; Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée; Representation of migrants in Italian textbooks 2011)

• Feminist studies on female representation in media

• Migrant women risk to undergo double discrimination

Theoretical background

Premise:• The way women are represented in influential media can contribute

to reinforce or fight stereotypes, converting the patriarchal and gerarchic relationships to common sense

• Perception of migrants in Italy is strongly distorted

Methods

1) Defining the subject of analysis:A. selecting a sample of Geography and History textbooks used in Italiansecondary schools (38 volumes analysed)

B. selecting online newspapers and‘key-events’: 5 online newspapers analysed and 8 key-events in 2016

2) Developing ad hoc analysis grids, based on previous research

89 pictures representing people, predominantly male

Not representing reality

Results 1: underrepresentation of migrant women A) in Italian school textbooks

554 pictures representing migrants

Results 1: underrepresentation of migrant women B) in Italian online newspapers

13 111 0 0 0 2

29 27

76

95 100

67

92

58 63

235 0

33

6

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Distribution % of gender per event

Female Male Mixed

• traditionally represented together with children

• new positive element, compared to the previous analysis: at work within different contexts

Results 2: how migrant women are representedA) in Italian school textbooks

Examples of pictures from Italian school textbooks

Insights from the few pictures representing female migrants:

• individuals

• not only passive victims, but activeand asking for rights

• not only women with children

Results 2: how migrant women are representedB) in Italian newspapers

Examples of pictures from Italian newspapers

Conclusions

• registered a problem of underrepresentation of migrantwomen in Italian school textbooks and online newspapers, notconsistent with reality

• however, the way of representing migrant women seems beingevolving, including work dimension and in work contexts notonly related to care (in textbooks), and giving value to individuality and active role (in media)

Perspectives

• Within the textbooks analysis, widening the analysis to compare migrant women representation to native women representation in specific contexts

• Considering gender perspectives in Italian guidelines for school textbooks and newspapers

• Updating the textbooks and newspapers analysis in the nextyears to monitor possible changes in migrants and migrantwomen representation after/during this political period

References:• ‘Rappresentazione dei migranti nelle testate online europee’, di MG Caruso, L. Cerbara, A. Pelliccia, V. Tudisca, A. Valente e i

tirocinanti CNR-IRPPS V. Calcagno, V. Formentini, L. Piromalli, V. Ronca, M. Santurro, L. Zampino, in ‘Imago migrantis: migranti alle porte dell’Europa nell’era dei media’, a cura di V. Tudisca, A. Pelliccia e A. Valente, Roma: CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing, 2019;

• ‘Le migrazioni nei testi dei manuali italiani di storia e geografia’, A. Valente, V. Tudisca V. Calcagno, V. Formentini, L. Piromalli, V. Ronca, M. Santurro, L. Zampino, S. Caravita, in ‘Imago migrantis: migranti alle porte dell’Europa nell’era dei media’, a cura di V. Tudisca, A. Pelliccia e A. Valente, Roma: CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing, 2019;

• ‘La rappresentazione dei migranti nelle testate giornalistiche online europee: un’analisi pilota’, di V. Tudisca, A. Pelliccia, M. G. Caruso, L. Cerbara, A. Valente, in ‘Migrazioni e integrazioni nell’Italia di oggi’, a cura di Corrado Bonifazi, IRPPS Monografie, 2017;

• ‘Iconografia delle migrazioni nei libri di testo’, di A. Valente, V. Tudisca, V. Calcagno, L. Piromalli, V. Ronca, M. Santurro, L. Zampino, S. Caravita, in ‘Migrazioni e integrazioni nell’Italia di oggi’, a cura di Corrado Bonifazi, IRPPS Monografie, 2017;

• ‘Le migrant dans les manuels italiens d’histoire et de géographie: l’impact des images, le rôle des styles, l’ambiguïté des valeurs’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, G. Vitali, S. Caravita, in ‘Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée’, a cura di B. Maurer, M. Verdelhan e A. Denimal, Parigi, L’Harmattan, 2016;

• ‘Le migrant dans les manuels italiens d’histoire et de géographie: le migrant, la femme, la mémoire’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, G. Vitali, S. Caravita, in ‘Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée’, a cura di B. Maurer, M. Verdelhan e A. Denimal, Parigi, L’Harmattan, 2016;

• ‘Rappresentazione dei migranti nei libri di testo italiani di storia e geografia’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, S. Caravita, in IRPPS Working Paper n. 59, 2014;

• ‘The role of textbooks in science education: a case study on human migrations’, di A. Valente, T. Castellani, S. Caravita, in ‘Science Education and guidance in schools: the way forward’, a cura di A. Raschi, A. Di Fabio e L. Sebastiani, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2013.

Thank you for your attention!

AcknowledgementsWe thank the research teams of the projects Imago migrantis, Representation of migrants in Italian textbooks 2011, Migrants et migrations dans les manuels scolaires en Méditerranée, FP6 Biohead Citizen