The above debates about the role of religious education notwithstanding, the field of religious education in Uzbekistan is organized in three capacities: professional religious education in the field of theology (madrasas, Tashkent Islamic Institute, seminaries); academic education in religion in secular educational institutions (including public schools and higher education) (ICG, 2003); and domestic religious education settings in which the intent is to study the rules of religious practice, which are of interest to the population and considered necessary for daily life, and to acquire knowledge based on religious views on issues related to morality. Mainly, it is provided in the family and only parents are allowed to provide religious education to their children (Komilov, 2021; Yusupov, 2017).

# Conceptual Framework

There is a parallel discourse on the role religion plays in the education of a secular state in general. The question of religious education has been and still is the subject of particularly intense and controversial debate (Fratelli, 2013; , Lähnemann et al., 2009; Seligman, 2004).

Religious education about faith in public schools has an impact on society and, in some cases, plays a strong formative role. Many criteria can be used to distinguish the main solutions which have been adopted. A macro-distinction is that of a denominational vs. non-denominational approach toward religion as a specific subject in school curricula. These two different options can be named: "education into religion(s)" and "education about religion(s)" (Jackson, 2007; Schreiner, 2009).

Fratelli (2013) argued that the post-secular idea is the possibility for schools and religious organizations to learn from each other by inhabiting the same public space and participating in shared practices. Lähnemann and Schreiner (2009) argue that religious education and interreligious learning can serve as a key agent in helping people find direction in their lives and actions. Another feature of methodologies in education on religious studies is the interpretive models on which the analysis of religious phenomena and resources in the school textbooks are discussed (Seligman, 2004).

There are three types of religious education that are relevant to the study. Education in faith, i.e., how to be a pious member of your religion, education about religion, i.e., teaching world religion and moral education, which is akin to civics (Chazan, 1985).

Religious education about faith can be delivered in public school settings in two ways. Firstly, instruction in faith can be delivered to students in their own religious confession, contributing to the construction of students' religious identity and their integration into the cultural and spiritual realms to which they belong (Brandt, 2013). Furthermore, it helps and develops the ability to distinguish right from wrong, to act on this distinction and to experience pride when we do the right things and guilt when we are engaged in wrongdoings, which in turn shape one's morality. Engaging with religion can contribute to developing personal orientation and identity formation. This applies to education in religious communities as well as in public education. Secondly, religious education can offer students knowledge about religions in an informative, neutral way while equally acknowledging different religious traditions. It is evident that the majority of the population in Uzbekistan consists of Muslims. However, due to the secular nature of the state, the objective of incorporating religious education in schools is to facilitate the assimilation of religious knowledge among young individuals based on principles of diversity and tolerance. It is important to note that religious knowledge encompasses more than just faith; it can promote awareness of different worldviews, their cultural and moral implications and their contribution to human rights, and thus contribute to a tolerant attitude as a prerequisite for harmonious coexistence. In light of this concept, it becomes essential to analyze the specific elements that should be included in the educational process when teaching about religion in the context of Uzbekistan. By incorporating these elements, students can engage in reflective thinking and ultimately form their own perspectives.

# Methodology

This study combines archival research with analysis of textbooks used for teaching religious education in schools. Archival research helps to see the evolution and dynamics of state policy about teaching religion in public schools. The archival findings reflect the most important features of the field for a period of 30 years between 1991 and 2022.

The analysis comprises the processing of qualitative data extracted from the school curricula, decrees, and laws and classified into several subcategories (Halai & Durrani, 2021). Additionally, where appropriate, I use statistics in the legal documents of the government and the school curricula.

My qualitative methodology was iterative. Firstly, I identified search terms which captured the key dimensions, including religion, education, religious, political economy contexts, and conflict-affected states. Next, I searched several databases, including the National Archive of Uzbekistan (NAUz), the Archive of Republican Educational Center and electronic databases of development agencies, including the National Database of Legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Policy analysis uses political viability, evaluation, and equity criteria, and studies are selected for in-depth review. The extracted data is then thematized, analyzed, and synthesized to draw conclusions. This stage aims to critically and constructively relate the program-related literature with broader insights into religious education in public schools in Uzbekistan.

# Findings

#### *Legal Framework of Religious Education in Uzbekistan*

The Republic of Uzbekistan is a signatory to more than 60 international legal documents in human rights (including six UN documents). In addition, it has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which specifically mention ensuring subjects such as the general history of religion and ethics are covered in public schools if provided in a neutral and objective way. The freedom of parents or legal guardians to ensure that their children receive a religious and moral upbringing that corresponds to their beliefs is related to the guarantee of freedom of religion or belief (Yunusova, 2002).

Several legislative acts have been developed to pursue its secular democratic stance (Yunusova, 2002). For example, Table 4.1 highlights several clauses related to education and religious education in the Constitution, as well as other laws and regulations that govern these areas. For example, the Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to believe in any religion or not to believe in any religion, and religious organizations are separated from the state and equal before the law. The Law on Freedom of Conscience of May 1, 1998 (new version in 1998, 2021), prohibits the inclusion of religious subjects in the curriculum of the education system (except for religious educational institutions). It should be mentioned that in accordance with international child rights norms, Article 5 of the Declaration of the UN guarantees all children "the right to education in matters of religion or belief according to the wishes of their parents", and Article 6 guarantees the right to "teach religion or belief in places suitable for this purpose". Besides that, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan, "On Education", recognizes the freedom to choose the form of education, non-discrimination in education, ensuring equal education opportunities, the inculcation of national and universal values in education and upbringing, and the harmony of state and public administration in the education system. This reflects a commitment to providing quality education that promotes both national and universal values, and ensuring that everyone has equal access to education regardless of their background or beliefs. However, teaching religion in public schools is not mentioned anywhere.

It appears that the Uzbekistan government has recently gone through a shift in its policies toward religion and religious education. On August 23, 2019, the government noted that it is necessary to introduce a single subject, "*Tarbiya*" (Upbringing), with a focus on educating the younger generation in the spirit of national pride and patriotism. Overall, the government appears to be prioritizing religious values and morality in education and society (Conception of curriculum "*Tarbiya*", retrieved March 2, 2023). Extensive efforts have been made to educate the populace on religious values, strongly emphasizing morality.

#### *Religious Education as a School Subject in Public Education*

The teaching of religion in educational institutions of Uzbekistan took a new turn in transition period and emphasizes the deep study and widespread promotion of moderate teachings of Islam (Nuritdinov,

**Table 4.1** Legislation acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan on education and religion between 1991 and 2021

(continued)

(continued)

1998). In the general curriculum, the subjects in which the foundations of religious education are integrated are taught in the section of various subjects in the 1st to 11th grades. From the academic year 1992–1993, the history of religion was included in the hours allocated to the general history course. Based on the order of the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan (Minister J.G. Yuldoshev), on September 24, 1992, No. 276, it was stated that "*Din asoslari*" (Fundamentals of Religious Studies) was to be taught in secondary schools and the issue of organizing short-term training courses for lecturers (NAUz, fond M.26, op.1, d. 4, l.109–111). This approach focuses on the moderate teachings of Islam and promoting religious enlightenment among young people. This is achieved by including the history of religion in the general history course and teaching the fundamentals of religious studies, sociology, and the history of the people of Uzbekistan in secondary schools. According to the report of the Ministry of Public Education, there were 8,524 schools in the republic in 1992, where 4,611,800 students studied (NAUz, fond M.26, op.1, d. 23, l.32).

In 1992, the Ministry of Public Education introduced curricula in schools based on religion that aimed to cultivate a sense of pride in Uzbekistan's cultural and historical heritage among the younger generation. It is interesting to note that the reintroduction of the old Uzbek script in schools was part of a broader effort to revive the national identity and promote the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. The decision to teach courses on the history of religion, theology, and ethics, as well as the use of Arabic script in some optional courses, highlights the importance of religion and traditional values for Uzbek society (NAUz, fond M.26, op.1, d. 13, l. 30, Archive of Republican educational center registered on October 28, 1992).

In this regard, textbooks and school lessons include sections on moral standards to teach religious studies as a means of teaching about religion, emphasizing the spiritual, and enlightening aspects of Islam. The primary form is conducted in secondary education institutions, where the teaching of religion is approached from an academic perspective rather than a theological one. The main type of religious education in Uzbekistan is conducted in secondary schools as a moral course based on theology: *dinshunoslik* [religious studies]; *dunyo dinlari tarixi* [history of world religions]; *tarbiya* [upbringing]; *odobnoma* [etiquette]; *eski uzbek yozuvi*  [old Uzbek script]; *adabiyot* [literature]; *tarix* [history]; *dunyo dinlari tarixi* [history of world religions]. These subjects provide information about religious history, and major world and national religions, their worship and rituals described from an academic perspective and based on Islamic moral norms. On the other hand, special state religious institutions, such as madrasas, teach disciplines such as world religions to train imams with religious tolerance toward other religions (Islomov, 2008). The goal is to form a comprehensive civic Uzbekistani personality and build an ideological immunity against religious fundamentalism that does not align with national spirituality (ICG, 2003; Seraphine, 2018).

Table 4.2 shows the changes in the curriculum for grades 1–11 in Uzbekistan over several years. The subjects, grades, and number of hours per program are listed for each academic year. It is interesting to note that the curriculum has undergone some changes over time, with some subjects being removed. The last column indicates the number of hours allocated to each subject in the given academic year. The table also includes references to various sources for the information presented. From 1991 to 1992, "*Odobnoma*" (etiquette) was taught to grades 1–4 for 17 hours out of a total of 68 hours. In addition, *Old Uzbek writing*  based on Arabic writing was taught to grades 2–4 for 34 hours, and "*Vatan tuygusi*" (patriotism) was taught to grades 5–6. From 1992 to 1995, the curriculum was expanded to include more subjects such as history, literature, and religion for grades 5–8. The number of hours allocated to the curriculum increased to 85 hours. From grades 9 to 11, the curriculum included "*Dunyo dinlari tarihi*" (History of World Religions) for 34 hours. In 1999, "*Ma'naviyat asoslari*" (the basics of spirituality) was added to the curriculum for grades 7–9 for 34 hours. In 2001, "*Milliy istiqlol g'oyasi*" (National Independence Idea) and "*Uzbekiston konstitutsiyasi*" (Constitution of Uzbekistan) were added for 34 hours. In 2019, "*Tarbiya*" (Upbringing) was introduced, and all the above-mentioned subjects were excluded from the curriculum for grades 1–11. Finally, it is important to note that the hours per program for each year remained consistent at 34 hours.

It is worth noting that the inclusion of these subjects in the school curriculum reflects the Uzbekistan government's commitment to the holistic development of students, not just in terms of academic knowledge but also in their personal growth and character formation. Moreover, the emphasis on respecting national values and cultural diversity highlights the country's efforts to promote social harmony and inclusivity, and to foster a sense of national unity among its diverse population. By educating young people on these principles, Uzbekistan hopes to build a more tolerant and harmonious society where different cultures and traditions are respected and celebrated.

#### *The Politics of Textbooks in Religious Studies*

Religious teaching and morality are introduced into the public schools of Uzbekistan as a secular-modernized concept, defined as part of national culture. The harmonious combination of ideas of interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural tolerance, the union of the spiritual and the secular, describes the creation of the foundations of religious education in a modern political legal society in Uzbekistan. These above-mentioned conceptual questions were covered in school textbooks in the courses of teaching religion about faith. The textbooks contain some texts on religion, mainly Islam, and examples from various religious narratives aimed at conveying feelings of humanity, patriotism, respect for parents, and mutual kindness between people.

If we look through the debates over the textbooks for teaching about religion in public schools, the Minister of Public Education of Uzbekistan, CORA, the Republican Education Center, and the Tashkent Islamic University (now the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan) are responsible for textbooks in the field of religion in public schools. The elaboration of textbooks is followed by the principle, "Secularism is not atheism" (Archive of Republican Educational Center).

**Table 4.2** References of the curriculum for grades 1–11 in public schools of Uzbekistan

It should be noted that the preparation of textbooks is considered a serious task by the Ministry of Public Education with efforts. For example, on September 24, 1992, by the order of the approval of the selection committee for the evaluation of concepts and teaching aids in secondary schools in the subjects "*History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan*" and "*Fundamentals of Religious Studies*", the council for textbook authors includes philosophers, historians, and sociologists from the Institute of History, the Pedagogical Institute, and Tashkent Technical University (NAUz, fond M.26, op.1, d.4, ll.109–111). However, the archive documents show that the council did not include specialists in the field of religion to prepare the textbooks.

The textbooks mentioned above focus on world religions, including Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam. While the approach to teaching about religion is confessional, the textbooks also emphasize the similarities and intercultural tendencies between religions. However, it partly presents intercultural tendencies in addition to this confessional character. The focus is mainly to show differences and similarities of each religion. In terms of visual content, we see images of great Arabic scholars, mosques, mausoleums, and historical places in the Islamic context. They are not portrayed with reference to Islamic sources to a great extent. Islam is described in more detail than other confessions, for example, when articulating its origins, sects, branches, and the development of science, art, culture, and spirituality in Muslim countries. Overall, the textbooks in Uzbekistan cover a wide range of topics related to religion and culture in different grades, focusing on ethics, national values, and the contributions of Muslim scientists to world science. While the approach to teaching about religion is confessional, the textbooks also emphasize intercultural tendencies and similarities between religions.

It should be noted that in previous years the textbook on the history of world religions was not taken into discussion by the authors and governmental agencies and published with the same thematic. These debates were raised during a period of internal conflict and turbulence associated with religious fundamentalism and terrorism (Tashkent 1999). For instance, on August 22, 2003, Decree No. 364 from the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the provision of social assistance and benefits for further improvement of spiritual and educational work in the field of religion", declares that in the system of lifelong learning to create textbooks on subjects that acquaint young people with the history, teachings, and essence of religions and gradually introduce them into the educational process (Archive of Republican Educational Center).

The evidence I have gathered indicates discussions between textbook authors on how to improve the quality and originality of the textbook. For example, Table 4.3 shows meetings of the textbook council emphasized problems in the content and context of the textbook "*History of World Religions*" published between 2002 and 2017 years.

Interestingly, the Decree of the President of Uzbekistan dated April 16, 2018, includes planned measures for radical improvement in the religious and educational sphere. Particularly, one of the measures (paragraph 7) eliminates existing shortcomings in the study of curricula and textbooks in the subjects "*History of world religions*", "*Religious studies*", and "*Spiritual and educational foundations for countering religious extremism and international terrorism*" in the system of public education. In comparison with the previous textbooks and curricula, the Decree indicates a more deliberate and systematic approach to the study of religion and religious extremism. Unlike the preceding book, the next 2019 year adopted the textbook "*Tarbiya*" (Upbringing), which directed the students to understand the basics of Islamic morality, the importance of family, learn good manners, and norms of behavior derived from religion, mainly from the canons of Islam. Nevertheless, this textbook does not cover direct teaching of instruction in religious faith.

# Conclusions

In conclusion, the evolution of religious education in public schools in Uzbekistan emphasizes the need to address society's demands for religious education, work on the prevention of radicalization, balance secularism, ensure inclusivity, while acknowledging the historical context. The implementation of religious education in these schools reflects a secular and nationalist approach, as the state maintains a separation from religious institutions and provides limited formal religious education. However, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the presence of Muslims in society, general education schools in Uzbekistan offer classes on religious history and culture. From 1991 to 2001, these subjects primarily provided general information, but since 2001, the teaching of religious subjects has undergone changes due to political factors such as the rise of regional radicalism and religious

**Table 4.3** Textbook authors' discussions on "The History of World Religions"

extremism. The curriculum's textbooks focus on providing an understanding of various religions rather than promoting any specific faith. The authors of these textbooks approach the history and culture of religion based on the region's historical context and territorial considerations. Given the significant role of Islam in the country's history, the textbooks contain substantial information about the history and teachings of Islam.

The government of Uzbekistan faces several challenges in providing religious education in public schools. While the country identifies as secular, religion remains intertwined with society. The teaching of religion is approached from an academic perspective, with an emphasis on promoting moderate teachings of Islam and instilling ideological immunity against religious fundamentalism. To address these challenges, teaching religion in public schools ensures that the curriculum is inclusive and covers different religions, while also respecting the secular nature of the state. As shown above, teaching about religion in public schools of Uzbekistan focus on national and moral education in the context of Islamic teachings, which helps to promote a sense of cultural and national identity among Uzbekistan's youth. However, it is important to ensure that such education is not used to promote radical or extremist views, and that it respects the diversity of beliefs and opinions.

The study also found that the government could work with religious leaders and organizations to develop a framework for religious education in public schools that takes into account the concerns of all stakeholders. This could involve establishing a committee or commission of representatives from different religions to guide the development and implementation of religious education programs in public schools. Furthermore, it would also make sense to organize an optional course religious studies course for high school students. Additionally, as archive documents show, schools sometimes lack qualified teachers of religious studies. Thus, the government could consider providing training and support to teachers to ensure that they are equipped to teach religious education in a way that promotes tolerance, respect, and understanding. This could involve developing teacher-training programs that focus on religious diversity, cultural sensitivity, and effective classroom management strategies. By implementing these strategies, Uzbekistan can provide students with a high-quality education that promotes tolerance, respect, and understanding of different religious beliefs and perspectives. This would contribute to the cultivation of national pride, the preservation of cultural heritage, and the development of a well-rounded education for the younger generation.

#### References

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Islam, Women, and Genderization in Professions: The Case of Uzbekistan

*Rahimjon Abdugafurov*

# Introduction

Although women's participation in higher education is increasing, the gender gap in participation in professions or genderization of professions continues to exist in Uzbekistan. Women's participation in higher education in Uzbekistan grew significantly from 31.8% in 2016 to 45% based on the latest data released by the Agency for Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2022). This is a positive change is facilitated by the opening of approximately 70 new universities in the past six years. There are now over 154 universities and more than 800 thousand students in higher education (The Agency for Statistics of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2022). Again, the genderization of professions continues to exist. In other words, the participation of women in certain "traditional" fields rather than having somewhat balanced participation in all educational domains still holds true.

79

R. Abdugafurov (B)

Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2023

N. Durrani and H. Thibault (eds.), *The Political Economy of Education in Central Asia*, The Steppe and Beyond: Studies on Central Asia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8517-3\_5

Previous studies, such as the United Nations' "Women and Men in Uzbekistan: Differences in Education" (2012), the World Bank's Systematic Country Diagnostic for Uzbekistan (2016), and "the Country Gender Assessment: Update" of the Asian Development Bank (2018) recognize the gender gap in Uzbekistani women's participation in higher education, including the genderization of professions. For example, the World Bank report discusses gendered specializations and shows that 56% of female students enrolled in higher educational institutions (HEI)s are in the fields of education and culture, 40% in healthcare and physical training, 23% in agriculture, 20% in economics and law, and less than 15% in communication, construction, and transportation. This report concludes that gendered specializations can lead to further gender discrimination and lower wages for women (World Bank, 2016).

To understand the genderization of professions in the case of Uzbekistan, the chapter employs a few theories and conceptual frameworks. However, it relies on "the Ambivalent Sexism Theory" by Peter Glick and Susan Fiske (1997) as a main theoretical tool to explain the issue of religious discourses about women's participation in higher education and the genderization of professions. Glick and Fiske state that whenever a woman performs something that is in line with what men think of as agreeable, such a woman receives praise or a *benevolent sexist remark*. When a woman does something that disagrees with men's perception of proper female behavior, she receives harsh criticism or a *hostile sexist remark* (Glick & Fiske, 1997). The four religious figures, namely Tursunoy Sodiqova, Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf (Muhammad Yusuf going forward), Odinaxon Muhammad Sodiq (also referred here as Bintu Sodiq), and Mubashshir Ahmad, whose works the current chapter analyzes, place men at the center of women's all education related activities, including higher education and choosing professions. Furthermore, as the findings of the study show, the four Uzbekistani Muslim religious figures agree that women should do whatever they want within what is legitimate or allowed by Islamic law (*Sharia*), which men usually abuse for their patriarchal interests. If women do not conform to the expectations of men, they become illegitimate in the eyes of society.

This chapter first surveys briefly the studies done in the field of religious discourses and women's participation in higher education as well as the genderization of professions. It also discusses theories and previous works on how one can comprehend and explain the existing gender gap in participation in different professions and the relevance of religious discourses. The section on the findings of the study will offer more detailed examples of the views of the four religious figures with regard to women's education, higher education, and the genderization of professions. The chapter demonstrates that the Islamic discourses are not necessarily a direct reflection of the state policy, but they are reflections of society. Both the state policies with regard to religion and Islamic discourses produced by these four authors reflect the values of the society and are constructed in a mutually constitutive way.

# Conceptual Framework and Literature Review

Scholars with both emic and etic perspectives have written about religion and education in Uzbekistan specifically and in Central Asia from a more general perspective. For instance, Abdugafurova (2018) discusses the existence of indirect Islamic influence in school and university textbooks. Using the term of *adab* or "a discipline of character development in ethics and morals," and explaining its social implications, Abdugafurova argues that indirect Islamic influences are both implicit and explicit. The author writes: "The Explicitness indicates that Islam is considered part of everyday life and that Uzbek school curriculum includes Islam as part of culture, tradition and history" (p. 232). In relation to the implicit nature of such teachings, the author states, "Implicitness suggests that Islamic values are not the only factor to be considered in moral education in schools but must be combined with secular values" (p. 232). It is possible to interpolate from Abdugafurova's work that the instillation of Islamic morals, ethics, and values is present at the school and university levels in Uzbekistan. Abdugafurova's work is of great value in understanding how Islamic discourses are deeply embedded into the educational system, although the Uzbekistani government claims that its educational curriculum is secular.

Khalilova (2020) also offers important discussions on the history of education and its interaction with religion throughout the Tsarist, communist, and post-Soviet environments. Khalilova discusses how Islamic ideas, although not taught at schools as a religious subject per se, seep into the school curriculum (pp. 105–109). Additionally, the author examines governmental laws on religion and education and their dynamic nature throughout the history of Central Asia.

The genderization of professions is another important subject previous scholars and practitioners have raised with regard to Uzbekistan. Tabaeva et al. (2021) discuss gender inequality "in the fields of education and employment" and state that "women are predominantly concentrated in low-wage social sectors such as education and health, while men dominate income-generating engineering and business sectors such as industry and communication" (p. 38). Other scholars have also addressed issues related to gender norms, women's educational activities in Uzbekistan and in the Central Asian region (Peshkova, 2020; Peshkova & Thibault, 2022; Tokhtakhodjaeva, 2008) and demonstrated how gender norms are constructed by male-centered traditional discourses.

Key publications produced by international organizations, such as World Bank (2016), the United Nations (2012), and Asian Development Bank (2018) all recognize the problem of genderization of specializations and attempt to shed some light on it. For example, the United Nations (2012) identifies six reasons that impact women's participation in higher education and genderization of professions: (1) decision-making for girls by parents in choosing a profession, (2) prioritizing sons over daughters when it comes to paid higher education, (3) social pressure to choose a profession that might be useful for family life for girls, (4) unwillingness of parents to send girls too far away to study, (5) not enough universities in certain regions in the country, and (6) earlier marriages for girls than boys which decrease women's participation in higher education because of early childbirth.

While these studies focus on some social, economic, and geographical factors, they do not explore religious aspects of the issue. The Asian Development Bank (2018) recognizes that there is a need to conduct further studies to "identify more root causes" for the genderization of professions (p. 73). This chapter focuses on this issue and discusses the genderization of professions in Uzbekistan in relation to Islamic discourses and their construction of women's participation in higher education. The chapter considers the mutually constitutive nature of the matter at hand. While the study does not claim a direct correlation between existing Islamic discourses about women's participation in higher education and the genderization of professions, it argues that they are reflective of the Uzbekistani society's values and dominant gender norms since these two factors are mutually constitutive.

As mentioned earlier, the theory adopted in the chapter is "the Ambivalent Sexism Theory" by Peter Glick and Susan Fiske (1997). Glick and Fiske explain the theory in the following way:

Ambivalent Sexism Theory distinguishes between hostile and "benevolent" sexism (each addresses issues of power, gender differentiation, and sexuality). Benevolent sexism encompasses subjectively positive (for the sexist) attitudes toward women in traditional roles: protective paternalism, idealization of women, and desire for intimate relations. Hostile sexism encompasses the negative equivalents on each dimension: dominative paternalism, derogatory beliefs, and heterosexual hostility. Both forms of sexism serve to justify and maintain patriarchy and traditional gender roles. (p. 119)

The chapter demonstrates through the examples in the findings section, that all four religious figures, including two female authors, express both benevolent and hostile sexist attitudes toward women. This is to say, women who are in the service of men as good mothers and wives receive benevolent sexist remarks while women who take leadership roles in business or other areas are subject to hostile sexist attitudes. Additionally, all the religious figures whose works the chapter analyses here see women's education within the limits of *Shari'a* or Islamic law, and whenever women function beyond these "Islamic legal" boundaries, they become branded as illegitimate.

Religious statements have a bearing on their time and context, which remain under the influence of existing political systems. Carl Ernst (2003) writes that "every claim about religion needs to be examined critically for its political implications" (p. 8). This is to say, that the tones in the changes of the authors from one presidential period to another reflect political adjustments. Ernst (2003) continues to state:

Religion is not a realm of facts, but a field in which every statement is contested, and all claims are challenged. Religious language in the public sphere is not meant to convey information but to establish authority and legitimacy through assertion and persuasion. (p. 8)

For this reason, this study questions what kind of authoritative "Islamic" messages the four religious figures—Muhammad Yusuf, Tursunoy Sodiqova, Odinaxon Muhammad Sodiq, and Mubshshir Ahmad—are trying to convey, as the hermeneutical influence of such discourses in the public realm can have political as well as social implications.

# Methodology

Qualitative in nature, the current research applies thematic source analysis method (Nowell et al., 2017). Not only textual sources but also social media posts, including audio–video materials, serve as primary sources for the current work. The collected data include books, journal, magazine, and newspaper as well as website articles, short treatises, electronic versions of social media such as Telegram, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media outlets. The most prolific writer among the four selected scholars is Muhammad Yusuf, who wrote hundreds of books in his lifetime. The current study employed twelve of this author's books in addition to his audio, video, and website materials. Fifteen books and treatises in addition to several social media audio and TV programs of Tursunoy Sodiqova were analyzed in the current work. As for the other two current scholars, five books written by Odinaxon Muhammad Sodiq, several articles, and social media posts, three books by Mubshshir Ahmad, and his social media materials were thematically analyzed and applied when relevant.

The study analyzed the collected data based on the select themes that correspond to the central research questions: How do religious discourses construct women's participation in higher education in Uzbekistan? How such Islamic discourses affect women's choice of professions? Do such discourses contribute to the genderization of professions?

The study pays particular attention to the two women religious figures' voices and how they compare to male voices with regard to women's higher education and the gender gap in women's participation in various professions. It also compares changes in the two politically different presidential periods in Uzbekistan—the Karimov's authoritarian rule from 1991 up until 2016, and Mirziyoyev's relaxation of some rules after 2016 to our present day with respect to religious freedom and practice.

# Findings

All four religious figures whose works the current chapter employs depict male's role as a central factor in determining women's higher educational and professional decisions. For example, Muhammad Yusuf asks whether women should work or hold important positions. He writes in his book called *Iymon* [Faith] that "women should first be assistants in their husbands' work. Only when her family is in need, should she work in a *halal* or pious way" (2010, p. 65). Similarly, Tursunoy Sodiqova (2018) states that women must not attempt to take over male roles and promotes the idea that both in the Islamic law (*Sharia*) and in the laws of the society, men are leaders of families (p. 10). The other two religious figures also present similar views with regard to men's role in women's obtaining of higher education or selection of professions. For instance, Odinaxon Muhammad Sodiq argues that women are more adaptable to certain professions, such as teaching, than men are by claiming that men lack patience (Bintu Sodiq, 2022). Mubashshir Ahmad, also argues that men should be responsible for financing women's education (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2023). Although such arguments seem to be "praising" or "protecting" women, they qualify as benevolent sexism as they ultimately contribute to the creation of a male-centered environment.

Below is the individual summary of the views of these four Uzbekistani religious figures with regard to the themes, such as how they perceive women's education, including higher education and how they view women's role in society, including women's professions.

#### *Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf*

Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf, the former mufti of Central Asia and Kazakhstan from 1989 to 1993, known as *shaykh* or a religious guide, agrees that knowledge acquisition is a duty for men and women. He understands *ilm*, which can be translated as science or knowledge, as utilization of human intellect. He states that the Qur'an mentions the word *ilm* [knowledge] more than 50 times. He (2016a) compares the present practices of knowledge acquisition with past experiences and writes in his book called *Ijtimoiy Odoblar* [Social Ethics] the following:

When Muslims followed the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the Prophetic Traditions), they spread the light of knowledge to the whole world. Young and old, male, and female, from the cradle to the grave, they lived in search of knowledge. One of the honest western scholars who thoroughly studied that period described the Islamic community as "the community that fully attends the madrasa. (p. 353)

Calling knowledge acquisition as a duty [ *farz*] of every Muslim man and woman, Muhammad Yusuf implies his dissatisfaction with the current state of men's and women's educational activities. However, he places the Sharia compliant way of life to be the central factor rather than education itself. Muhammad Yusuf further implies that since Islamic law is not being followed properly, women's education is also not being properly conducted.

Muhammad Yusuf considers the discussion of women or any issue related to women in Islam to be an attack against Islam. He (2010) writes in a book called *Iymon* or Faith, "For various reasons, the issue of women has become one of the main targets of criticism against Islam. Even some Muslim scholars were forced to say that the issue of women is a poisoned dagger stuck in the chest of the Islamic Nation [*Umma*]" (p. 51). By defending Islam, he writes that Islam improved the treatment of women by making them equal to men. He argues that "before Islam, a woman was condemned not only to the violation of her rights, but also to the deprivation of her human status" (p. 52).

Muhammad Yusuf (2016b) is not against women obtaining knowledge, including higher education. He writes: "Raising daughters, their education, and culture, and everything necessary for their livelihood and growth are responsibilities of the father" (p. 53). He further adds that parents who assist their daughters to get knowledge receive more rewards from God than helping their sons to get education. He also emphasizes the importance of knowledge acquisition as a responsibility of women as well. He writes: "Women's rights do not only include education, knowledge acquisition, listening to religious sermons but also have the obligations to teach, impart knowledge, and be busy with other scientific works" (2010, p. 54).

He discusses how women played important roles in the past by writing that "the Muslim woman has always had her share in the fields of society, politics, and Sharia. The right opinion and voice of the Muslim woman were heard by caliphs, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and by the Almighty himself (2010, p. 64)." As for the women's participation in different fields, Muhammad Yusuf writes, "now let us talk about the work of a woman in different fields. It should be noted that in Islam, women are not forbidden to work, but this issue is regulated based on the interests of the woman, her family, and the society" (2010, p. 55). This is to say, not only women's own interests, but their family as well as societal interests determine whether women should be in different professions or not.

It is safe to say that Muhammad Yusuf places women's educational activities, including women's higher education, exclusively in the male domain. He constructs women's knowledge acquisition around men's needs. He (2010) writes that "Islam gave a woman the right to education, raising her cultural level and made men responsible for this work" (p. 53). He states that husbands have complete control over wives if such control conforms to Islamic law. He (2010) further writes:

It is permissible for a woman to help her husband in his work, to work honestly (through halal means) when her family needs her. That is, she can work if she wants to, otherwise someone cannot force her. Some of our scholars said: "work is sometimes recommended for women who have good character and are of great benefit to society. (p. 65)

It is reasonable to conclude that Muhammad Yusuf perceives women's education from an Islamic legal or *Sharia* perspective. Not only Muslim men and women should obey Islamic laws with regard to women's education, but women should come under male control in such activities. Muhammad Yusuf creates a situation where men control women's educational and professional activities in the name of Islamic law. If women follow such an Islamic way of life, as Glick and Fiske describe in their Ambivalent Sexism Theory, they receive praise. However, breaching Islamic legal norms will result in the illegitimacy of such activities. For this reason, it is possible to state that Muhammad Yusuf's views on women's education and professional work add to the perpetuation of the genderization of professions in Uzbekistani society and beyond.

#### *Tursunoy Sodiqova*

Tursunoy Sodiqova is a prolific writer and a well-known figure in the Uzbekistani society. Originally from the Andijan province, she later moved to Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan and graduated from the philology faculty from Uzbek National University (former Tashkent State University) in 1966. With an oratory skill and a life skill, Sodiqova combines her Islamic knowledge and becomes a public speaker, an ethics and etiquette teacher for the general Uzbekistani public, specifically for Uzbekistani women.

In a telegram channel dedicated to Tursunoy Sodiqova, and run by her fans, Sodiqova talks about the value of reading for girls in the video clip titled "Mother is a Great Teacher":

Let us encourage our daughters to become book lovers from their childhood; books inspire their dreams, enhance their thinking, and introduce them to human morality. Through reading, a person learns how to interact with others. Books reveal the world to them and fill them with wonder. They learn how to build happiness and overcome sorrow. (Tursunoy Sodiqova, 2019, 3:11)

In her book called *Today's Men* [*Bugungi Erkaklar*], Sodiqova (2018) seems to imply that women should have goals other than raising children. In fact, she highly recommends parents to pay more attention to daughters' education than sons' education since daughters are at the center of the family's success. "Since being born, and living as a human being, I have had goals other than raising children. I was able to know the world and people, I struggled, and achieved, and still wonder whether I made my mark or not" (2018, p. 13). However, one can see the elements of benevolent sexism as well as hostile sexism in the examples from her other works. For example, she talks about how women are the greatest beings since they are mothers. This is an example of benevolent sexism. In other instances, she criticizes women who are in business or who fight to take care of their families. As an example of hostile sexism, Sodiqova (2018) states that such cases where women attempt to take over male roles are unacceptable. She promotes the idea that both in the Islamic law and in the laws of the society, men are leaders of families (p. 10).

Furthermore, Sodiqova seems to overwhelm women with familial responsibilities more so than men (Tursunoy Sodiqova, 2021). She states that a wife is obligated not only to change her husband's character for the better but is also responsible for the success or failure of the marriage, including the husband's relationship with his own family members, his career and the like. In general, the well-being of the family is the women's responsibility. She seems to leave little interest in women's own development (Zo'r TV, 2021). She also seems to be critical of women who do not conform to what men see as acceptable and agreeable and promotes the idea that women should conform to societal and patriarchal norms. For instance, she perceives women's foremost role as a housewife. In other words, some of Sodiqova's teachings reflect a male-centered approach to gender relations as she places the husband at the center of a wife's world (Otinoyilar, 2021, 4:20).

#### *Odinaxon Muhammad Sodiq (Bintu Sodiq)*

Odinaxon Muhammad Sodiq is a famed notable religious figure in today's Uzbekistan. She is also known as Bintu Sodiq, referring to the fact that she is the daughter of Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf, the former mufti of Central Asia and Kazakhstan mentioned earlier. Bintu Sodiq is popular not only through the print but also on social media outlets. She is frequently invited to television shows, and all types of educational institutions to give talks, and heads several print and online outlets.

Much like the previous female religious figure Tursunoy Sodiqova, Bintu Sodiq's views regarding women's education and choices of professions align with and reflect the society of Uzbekistan. Additionally, like her father, Muhammad Yusuf, she positions men at the center of the society. She writes in her book called *Remedy for Illiteracy* (*Bilimsizlik Shifosi*):

In fact, a man should work and provide for the family, and a woman should take care of her family and children. If the workplace conditions are in accordance with Sharia, a woman can work and support her husband when the family is in a difficult financial situation. Also, if a woman's specialty is desired by the society, she can work.  (Muhammad Sodiq, 2021, Volume 1, p. 116)

In the quotation above, Bintu Sodiq places men as responsible for the financial well-being of the household. At the same time, she does not deny that women should work. However, her condition is that the workplace be *sharia* compliant. Furthermore, she says that women can work when her "specialty is desired by the society" (Muhammad Sodiq, 2021, Volume 1, p. 116). By making this statement, Bintu Sodiq seems to imply that women's specialties may not always be desired by society. Like her father, Bintu Sodiq also reiterates that women may work when the family needs her financial support (Muhammad Sodiq, 2021). All these statements demonstrate, firstly, her agreement with the patriarchal rule, and secondly, her apparent neglect of women's continuous and important role in society. In other words, contrary to her position, women professionals are always needed in society, not occasionally.

In the example below, Bintu Sodiq further adds to her conviction that what women do should always be *Sharia* compliant.

The teacher and doctor, Abdulfattoh Oshur, an Al-Azhar scholar, said: "A woman, if, by adhering to the sharia of Allah, has made a useful invention from her home, and there is no harm in her driving a car. We used to consider it as a man's responsibility, but now we see that women are equal to men in learning and working in various positions, and there is no harm in them driving a car. (Muhammad Sodiq, 2021, Volume 1, p. 133)

In the above excerpt, Bintu Sodiq demonstrates her agreement with the fact that just like women's driving, participation in professional and educational activities, as long as they are sharia compliant, will not bring harm. This statement seems to imply that there were some people who thought that women who drive, work and study would bring harm, but in fact there is no harm.

It is important to note that the analysis of Bintu Sodiq's social media posts presented her support for women's participation in a variety of fields. For example, she emphasizes that "Whether religious or secular, women need to obtain knowledge" (Bintu Sodiq, 2022). She further adds that "No matter what field women choose as a profession and want to obtain knowledge, they must learn the fundamentals of that field well" (Bintu Sodiq, 2022). She also supports women getting secular education and not only religious knowledge. She says that "If our girls only want to study the Qur'an and Prophetic traditions and everyone switches to this field, and if we need doctors, or economists, or if we need to obtain some information that is in English, then what will happen? Our society needs people who are specialists in all fields" (Bintu Sodiq, 2022). This statement by Bintu Sodiq (2022) shows her support for women's education and specialization in all fields. She further adds:

When women and girls choose a profession, they should first of all need to consider their ability. Their parents or other relatives must not oppose if women choose their own professions. Every girl becomes passionate about her chosen profession and contributes to the development of that profession. Just simply going to college, and obtaining higher education, and letting the rest of the matter slide is a wrong approach. Women should make progress in their chosen professions. Additionally, some professions fit women better, particularly in professions that demand patience. In teaching, and where delicate actions are required, women fair better. (Bintu Sodiq, 2022, 27:20)

Although Bintu Sodiq (2022) seems to be supportive of women's freedom to choose the kind of profession they want, she reverts to her earlier opinion that women fit certain professions better than others. She sees women's patience to be a crucial matter in teaching, for example. However, the fact that she stresses that girls should be able to choose their own professions seems like a change of heart for Bintu Sodiq.

#### *Mubashshir Ahmad*

Mubashshir Ahmad owns a brand name Azon, popular in Uzbekistan and beyond. His Azon brand includes a TV channel, Azon.uz website, and a press company called Azon Kitoblari, bookstore form cafes, etc. He completed a translation of Arabic books on Islamic jurisprudential projects and published a 47-volume encyclopedia. The presentation of the work was conducted with much fanfare and Bintu Sodiq also presented at the event, talking about the value of the project as well as the kind of work Mubashshir Ahmad is doing. Ahmad is quite famous and vociferous in social media and offers controversial views at times. His book, *Olim, Odam va Olam* [Scholar, Human, and World] is one of the top ten books most purchased in Uzbekistan (Telegram Store, 2023). According to Playboard statistics, he has more than 80 thousand subscribers on his YouTube channel with close to 9 million views. He has over 110 thousand Instagram followers, and on his Telegram channel, he has over 73 thousand followers with over 1000 video posts. His Azon.tv on the YouTube platform, which is called *Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad,* has over one million subscribers.

Ahmad agrees with the other three scholars regarding his support for women's education. He mentions that it is an Islamic duty for women as much as for men to seek knowledge (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2021, 38). He also mentions his own daughters, one of whom wants to become a surgeon and the second daughter who wants to become a psychologist. Ahmad further adds that it is not women's responsibility to pay for their education. In fact, "women should be able to obtain whatever they want, including knowledge, with the support of and by depending on men" (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2021, 2:05). This way, he argues, women will not face problems in their work since they are not responsible for any financial matters. He adds that if a woman does not have financial problems at home, and if their husbands take care of such matters, such professional women will not seek bribes or other means to make money (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2023, 11:28).

Although Ahmad seems to support women's education, including higher education and women's ability to able to choose their own professions, he seems to make them dependent on men. In his YouTube video called "How a Woman Can Organize Work, Education, and Household Chores," he states that women's most important work is raising children (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2023, 0:30). He explains that Islamic legal rulings are usually general but can sometimes be exceptional. Discussing women's participation in different roles, such as leadership roles as well as being presidents, Ahmad states that such cases are exceptional and do not qualify as general rulings (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2023). The relevance of this notion to women's work, education, and household chores, according to Ahmad, is the nature of the woman—a delicate being that cannot handle certain professional responsibilities other than in exceptional cases. Gender equality, he argues, does not reach over 10 or 15% even in most democratic countries. Because of the delicate nature of their being, women should therefore be involved in their own fields (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2023, 9:30).

Mubashshir Ahmad, speaking about women's work in general, states that the Uzbek proverb—husband and wife are both responsible for the family's financial well-being—is wrong. He states that only men are responsible for the family's financial well-being, and if women want to work from home and earn income, the money earned will belong to women and not to the family or husband (Ustoz Mubashshir Ahmad, 2021, 0:10).

# Conclusions

All four religious voices the current chapter has discussed call for women's knowledge acquisition but when it comes to women's participation in higher education and profession choice, the views of these four authors presented some differences. All these four figures, who produce publications, social media, and other digital products, reflect the realities of the current Uzbekistani society. The fact that they have such profuse and pervasive presence makes one wonder if they share similar religious ideologies in their religious and intellectual productions. As the findings of the current study demonstrate, obvious contradictions by the same religious figure (in the case of Bintu Sodiq) can in fact be the result of her later alignments with the state policies with regard to religious affairs. In sum, it is fair to say that a genderization of professions persists in Uzbekistan and that such an attitude can obviously inhibit certain women from achieving their full potential. Although the current study does not claim that there is direct correlation between Islamic discourses and women's participation in higher education and genderization of professions, such religious figures, with authority and influence, seem to contribute to the perpetuation of patriarchal norms in the Uzbekistani society, particularly in women's higher education and choice of professions.

#### References

Zo'r TV. (2021, June 23). Sukunat Tughyonlari [Bursts of Silence], Volume 28: Tursunoy Sodiqova [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= qg54MtuCB-A

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Exploring STEM Teacher Educators' Gender Awareness and Understanding of Gender-responsive Pedagogies in Kazakhstan

*Ainur Almukhambetova*

# Introduction

Central Asian women demonstrate relatively high enrollment rates in higher education. For instance, women's enrollment in higher education is 55% and 57.6% in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, respectively (UNESCO, 2021). Although at 45.6% enrollment in Uzbekistan and around 38% in Tajikistan, women are underrepresented in higher education, both countries report improvement in women's participation rates. For example, Uzbekistan reported a fivefold increase in women's enrollment in higher education (President of Uzbekistan, March 2023). In Tajikistan, there was a 10% increase in women's enrollment in higher education compared to 2017 (Tajstat, 2017). However, in light of overall favorable women's

97

A. Almukhambetova (B)

Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2023

N. Durrani and H. Thibault (eds.), *The Political Economy of Education in Central Asia*, The Steppe and Beyond: Studies on Central Asia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8517-3\_6

educational positions, it is remarkable that Central Asian women are underrepresented in STEM fields in higher education. In 2018, for instance, no more than 30% of young people enrolled in STEM programs in Kyrgyzstan were women (UNESCO, 2021). The gender gap in STEM fields is even more prominent in Tajikistan (Kataeva, 2022). Overall, Central Asian countries demonstrate significant gender gaps in STEM fields.

The underrepresentation of women in STEM disciplines can be viewed as a cumulative problem. A smaller number of girls are engaged in STEMrelated activities at the secondary school level. This trend persists after school graduation when future majors are selected (Almukhambetova & Kuzhabekova, 2020). According to UNESCO (2021), these gender differences become even more prominent when it comes to transition to the job market and career advancement.

The decreasing participation of women in STEM is highly undesirable from various standpoints. Research suggests that sustainable development and economic prosperity are more likely in economies with higher levels of gender equality. In this regard, gender has a political-economic dimension as it structures the division within paid labor between higher-paid male-dominated occupations and lower-paid female-dominated occupations (Fraser, 2020). This also reinforces the gendered norms around inferior roles of women not only within households but also in society, as low wages and limited employment opportunities deflate the social status of women. This results in a political-economic structure that generates gender-specific modes of marginalization (Fraser, 2020).

Promoting gender equity in STEM challenges the preconception that women are less competent in scientific fields than men and helps to eliminate discrimination in education and employment. Expansion of opportunities for women in high-paying STEM occupations will lead to women's empowerment. More education and career opportunities, especially in high-paying fields, give women a voice against social and political injustice, help reduce social inequality, decrease social tension, and eventually lead to social and economic development in the region.

Kazakhstan, one of the Central Asian countries, presents a critical case for analyzing women's underrepresentation in STEM. Kazakhstan scores higher than other Central Asian countries on gender indicators (UNESCO, 2021). Women's enrollment in higher education in Kazakhstan is progressively higher than that of men (UNESCO, 2021), giving the initially promising picture of gender equity in Kazakhstani education. However, there is a significant overrepresentation of male students in the bulk of STEM majors, with significant variation across the subjects. As a result, high-paying STEM sectors are heavily male-dominated, while in low-paying health care and education, there is a significant overrepresentation of women. There is also a significant wage gap, with women earning only 68.6% of men's wages.

The voices of STEM women in Kazakhstan suggest that they confront hidden barriers, mostly rooted in social and cultural expectations from women (Almukhambetova et al., 2022), and the critical stage when they need to receive gender-responsive academic and career counseling is at high school when academic pathways are selected (Almukhambetova & Kuzhabekova, 2020). Although previous research highlights teacher educators' gender awareness as one of the priority factors, STEM teachers often display little understanding of their agency to challenge the underrepresentation of women in STEM (Durrani, 2022).

Pre-service teacher education is the most effective way to ensure that future teachers are able to reflect on their gendered practices and use education as a means to promote gender equality. Therefore, it is important to explore teacher educators' gender awareness and understanding of gender responsiveness in pedagogy, as they are the actors who shape pre-service teachers' knowledge, skills, and professional identity. This will help identify the underlying tensions in STEM teacher education that hinder the progress toward implementing gender-responsive instruction and career counseling. Equipped with a better understanding of the teacher-related hindrances that women face in their education as well as the factors that influence their performance and retention in STEM, policymakers can implement measures to improve women's recruitment and retention in STEM fields.

# Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

Several studies have been conducted in Kazakhstan to understand why women are underrepresented in STEM occupations. Prior research suggests that parents and extended family members often discourage girls from choosing STEM university majors (Almukhambetova & Kuzhabekova, 2020). While pursuing STEM higher education, young women confront hidden biases from male professors and male peers, mostly rooted in women's social and gender expectations (Almukhambetova et al., 2022). Even if the girls find themselves in a supporting university environment, they continue to face low expectations regarding their future employment in STEM from family members and potential employers (Almukhambetova & Kuzhabekova, 2021).

Previous research suggests that the educational process can improve or constrain girls' engagement in STEM. School textbooks often frame STEM as a male-dominated domain (Durrani et al., 2022). School teachers often hold gender stereotypes and are not always aware of their agency to challenge the underrepresentation of women in STEM. Such factors as teachers' gender awareness and gender responsiveness, professional development and support (Kalu, 2005; Chikunda, 2014) are critical in improving not only access, performance, and engagement with STEM studies but also further career choice.

Therefore, in order to step forward toward gender equity in STEM, there is a need to improve teacher training in particular. The evidence suggests that teacher education often fails to equip future teachers with the values, attitudes, and skills required for gender-responsive instruction and advising (Khalil et al., 2023). Limited teacher education policies are not aimed at addressing the inequities in education. As a result, teachers are often unaware of gender-responsive teaching strategies or graduate from teacher training universities without knowing how to address gender issues in their practices (Kalu, 2005).

Meanwhile, the research around gender and STEM education reports on various factors that affect girls' decision to pursue careers in STEM, which teacher's intervention can mitigate. Despite their strong aptitudes in sciences and math, girls often have a lower level of confidence and interest in STEM subjects than boys (Stoet & Geary, 2018) and their self-concept tends to decline as they progress through their studies (Murphy & Whitelegg, 2006). As a result of the low confidence and interest level, girls are less likely to enroll in STEM subjects at the high school level, especially in subjects later required to enroll in college-level engineering, physics, and computer science courses.

Implicit gender bias is often manifested in STEM curricula and assessments (Miske, 2013). Girls are often sidelined by their male peers STEM classrooms and laboratory activities, who take leadership roles in using the classroom material and equipment. Such classroom practices impede female students' self-esteem and attitudes toward science. Therefore, teachers' advising and gender-responsive instruction are critical in determining the female students' feelings toward STEM subjects and their self-concept in relation to it (Murphy & Whitelegg, 2006). The gender-responsive pedagogies can create a supportive environment for girls to accommodate their needs, enhance their interests, and benefit from participation in all classroom and laboratory activities.

Research also shows that male and female students do not share the same educational goals. Female students might be more idealistically oriented than male students as they aspire to contribute to society and help people (Sinnes & Løken, 2014). As female students often believe that STEM subjects lack relevance for their goals, gender-aware teachers can engage with students' beliefs about STEM, increase their motivation to study STEM subjects, and influence their alienation from it (Krogh & Thomsen, 2005; Murphy & Whitelegg, 2006). Such issues as insufficient peer support in class (Graham et al., 2013), subtle forms of discrimination in group work, combined with the overpowering image of the STEM profession as a masculine occupation, contribute to the feeling of poor fit and self-doubt, and discourage the girls from full engagement with STEM subjects. Differential teaching and assessment strategies and compensatory interventions can eliminate these issues. In addition, certain interventions to STEM curricula can also help to address the girls' missing skills due to the lack of engagement with STEM outside classes (Murphy & Whitelegg, 2006) and eliminate the gender gaps in students' performance and teachers are the key to the success of these interventions.

While the literature points out the importance of gender responsiveness in curriculum and instruction and the teachers' gender awareness, there is a lack of research on how teacher educators understand and implement gender responsiveness in educating future STEM teachers. Therefore, this chapter targets STEM teacher educators in several teacher training universities in Kazakhstan to explore their gender awareness and understanding of gender responsiveness in educating future STEM teachers.

The study will be framed by the 4Rs framework (based on Fraser's social justice theory), which uses the concepts of recognition, redistribution, representation, and reconciliation with respect to socio-economic and cultural processes that marginalize women from educational and employment opportunities. According to Fraser (2007), any struggle for gender justice implies redistribution (achieving egalitarian socio-economic structures), recognition and representation (recognizing diversity and enabling equal participation), and reconciliation (addressing the barriers for marginalized groups) (Novelli et al., 2019). The application of this framework will offer a novel PEA perspective on how to address the teacher-related hindrances in women's participation in STEM education in a Central Asian context.

# Methodology

The study employed a qualitative research approach (Creswell & Poth, 2016). Semi-structured interviews were the main method of data collection since they provided an opportunity for the researcher to understand the participants' experiences in the words of the participants themselves, allowing to combine the organization of the dialogue around themes suggested by the literature and flexibility to follow up on unexpected themes dynamically. The process of conducting the study was guided by ethical principles and regulations of the University of Ulster. The data collection started after obtaining the ethics committee's approval. Twenty-two STEM teacher educators working in five teacher training universities in Kazakhstan were interviewed (see Table 6.1 for more details on the participants' background characteristics).

**Table 6.1** Participants background characteristics

The interview protocol consisted of 15 questions, which were developed based on previous research on gender responsiveness in teaching, as well as the literature on school-related barriers to women's underrepresentation in STEM. The participants who agreed to take part in the study were contacted by the author to schedule an online or face-to-face interview. Due to time constraints, 14 interviews were conducted online via Zoom by research assistants or the author.

Each interview started with an explanation of the purpose of the research and anonymity and confidentiality measures to protect the participants' identities. The participants were then offered to sign an informed consent form. The interviews lasted for about 40–60 minutes, were recorded by the interviewer, and then transcribed. Sixteen interviews were conducted in the Russian language, and six interviews were conducted in Kazakh language. All interviews were entered into NVivo 12 software to organize and analyze the data.

The following research questions guided the study:

# Findings

#### *Teacher Educators' Perceptions of Barriers to Girls and Women's Participation in STEM*

When asked about the problem of the underrepresentation of girls and women in STEM, teacher educators agreed on the presence of certain stereotypes associated with "feminine" and "non-feminine" jobs. For example, a female participant commented: "I think the main reason why there are fewer girls is the stereotype of feminine and non-feminine jobs" (Participant-P, female, Physics).

Another societal gender stereotype reported by the participants is that women are incapable of performing well as a professional while being married and having children. As a female teacher stated, if the woman is married, she is at once constrained by domestic chores, and people do not expect her to be able to cope with both-family responsibilities and be a highly qualified professional (Participant-P, female, Physics). With regard to STEM, for a woman, starting a marriage almost always means that she ends her career. The quotes below are particularly illustrative:

Let's say, there is a girl, she gets married and all, but the computer sphere is developing every day, so …  The girl wouldn't manage that physically, she's taking care of a baby for a year (maternity leave), and then she wouldn't be able to keep up. (Participant-E, female, Mathematics)

There are usually different comments, like: Why do you need mathematics, you are going to marry tomorrow and that's all. (Participant-F, female, Mathematics)

According to the participants, one of the reasons stems from how girls and boys are socialized in their families. Men are socialized to prioritize careers, while women are expected to prioritize marriage and having children. As one participant commented: "Boys are brought up differently as they need to be stronger…they receive more attention as they are treated differently, and girls are brought up as calm and reserved as they are female gender" (Participant-A, female, Chemistry). Another participant also noted that the main reason is the difference in upbringing:

I came to the conclusion that the traditional upbringing that we give girls is to be calm and obedient. And for the boys, it is the opposite, o be active and strong, and the boys know how to cope with competition and stress. So, the main reason is the different upbringing that we give to boys and girls. (Participant-B, female, Biology)

TEM teacher educators almost unanimously stated that another barrier to women's participation in STEM is the influence of parents on girls' decisions of whether to pursue a career in STEM fields or not. Most participants agreed that parents in Kazakhstani households have a significant influence on girls' decisions. They also highlighted that it is a part of Kazakhstani culture to teach the girls to be subordinate to other peoples' decisions and think in advance if their future jobs are going to constrain them from their "main role of being a good wife." As one participant commented: "Traditional beliefs of the parents, they do matter. We still give traditional upbringing to our girls, to be calm and subordinate, and it's a pity that exactly because the girls choose other fields" (Participant-F, female, Mathematics). Another participant added: "Girls are often told by parents that easy majors are better for them, Philology, for example. Parents mostly influence that choice" (Participant-R, female, Physics).

Importantly, when asked about the main barriers to girls' and women's representation in STEM, none of the teacher educators mentioned any school or teaching-related barriers to girls' and women's participation in STEM. They mostly blamed parents for the gendered upbringing, the government for the absence of gender-related policies, and the media for the lack of popularization of science. As one teacher stated, the only measure to address the issue of having few women in STEM is to provide more grants and even quotas to encourage girls to enroll in STEM majors: "The government needs to provide grants, even quotas for technical specialties" (Participant-T, male, Computer Science).

In addition to being unaware of the role of education in addressing the underrepresentation of women and girls in STEM, teacher educators unanimously stated that there is no gender-based discrimination in Kazakhstan. As one interviewed teacher educator stated: "In our country, we don't have gender discrimination, you know that" (Participant-Q, male, Informatics). Similarly, a female participant commented: "I notice that there are no gender differences in school and university – we don't have that in Kazakhstan" (Participant-D, female, Physics). This signals STEM teachers' gender "blindness," which can be detrimental to promoting gender equality in and through education.

Overall, the data analysis revealed that STEM teacher educators demonstrate only a surface understanding of barriers that girls and women encounter in STEM and a limited understanding of teaching-related influences on girls' and women's participation in STEM.

#### *STEM Teachers' Understanding of Their Agency and Gender-Responsive Pedagogies*

As the key agents of addressing the issue of women's underrepresentation in STEM, teacher educators require appropriate knowledge of gender-related issues in STEM education. As it became clear from the interviews, STEM teacher educators demonstrate a limited understanding of their agency in addressing gender inequality in STEM. Only two out of 22 teacher educators mentioned the important role of teachers in developing students' interest in STEM. As one of them commented: "I think that we have very few trained teachers who are able to instill the interest in science, technology, and programming, and attract the students to science projects and research" (Participant-J, female, Informatics). Another comment: "The student should be genuinely interested in attending the lesson, and only because of this interest will the student choose this profession in the future. The role of the teacher is critical here. We still cannot teach the girls: make them understand that they are as cool in science as the boys" (Participant-H, male, Chemistry).

The analysis identified that teacher educators were not aware of what gender-responsive pedagogy entails. The participants also agreed that they have never been trained to teach gender responsiveness and have never discussed gender-responsive instruction with their colleagues. They seem to lack pedagogical knowledge and skills to incorporate gender-responsive pedagogy in their training of pre-service STEM teachers.

The study findings also show that almost all participants were unfamiliar with differentiated teaching and assessment strategies pertaining to students' gender. As one of the participants stated: "I do not practice this [gender responsiveness]. I give the same instructions to all; I do not have a personal approach according to students' gender" (Participant-G, female, Chemistry). Others also commented:

When you go to class, you never think that there might be any gender differences. (Participant-M, female, Computer Science)

For the teacher-they must be equal both male and female students. When we assess the students, we do it based on certain criteria, and we do not have any gender-sensitive assessment strategies which differ depending on the fact if you are a girl or a boy. (Participant-R, female, Physics)

Even if teacher educators thought that sometimes female students needed more support, they still attributed this to their deficiencies. As one participant commented: "I think that female students need more mentorship as they are less concentrated compared to male students" (Participant-K, female, Informatics).

The participants also stated that they never train pre-service teachers how to engage both male and female students more efficiently in STEMrelated activities, how to promote equal opportunities in their learning, and how to avoid unintentional gender stereotyping in the classroom. Moreover, not all the participants understand that students' learning styles might differ with regard to students' gender. There was also little understanding of gender responsiveness in curriculum design and gender differences in students' motivation levels. Only one participant stated that this lack of understanding needs to be reconsidered: *"* we need to take this more seriously–what we lack in education. Unfortunately, it is too far from reality… but if there was a reform in curriculum design- this could be definitely changed…" (Participant-F, female, Mathematics).

#### *STEM Teachers' Gendered Views and Sexist Attitudes*

The study identified that STEM teacher educators not only display a lack of knowledge of gender issues in STEM education and gender responsiveness in teaching but also actively reproduce gender through their gendered views on students' abilities, gendered practices, and discriminatory attitudes.

#### *STEM Teachers Educators' Views on Students' Abilities*

The analysis of interview data revealed teacher educators' gendered perceptions of girls' and women's abilities in STEM. Several participants stated that women are not biologically inclined to succeed in STEM, while men are naturally smarter than women:

Men are the ones who engage more, also because it's the technology and electronics- all more of a male thing. I accept it. Technology and electronics are theirs!...males are intellectually better; they're interested in electronics. (Participant-E, female, Mathematics)

Others argued that the STEM field is associated with male traits such as being "persistent" and "psychologically stable," whereas women are "irrational," "too emotional," "less focused," and "multifunctional,' the latter characteristic bearing a strong negative connotation. As one participant comments: "If we look at the IT sphere, mainly males choose this field…as they are more psychologically stable" (Participant-H, male, Chemistry). Other likewise commented:

They [men] go for IT more because they're more interested, and they will persist once they're interested in making robots etc.; it's their male character; they always persist. (Participant-E, female, Mathematics)

A man into chemistry – they're only into chemistry – it's their character, they don't look back, they go till the end. But girls are … They take up English, history, and this, and that … Multifunctional. (Participant-E, female, Mathematics)

These types of gendered assumptions might construct different expectations from female and male students and teach pre-service teachers stereotypical ways of doing gender. Viewing gender differences as natural entails perceiving boys' and girls' abilities as static and unchangeable. Viewing male and female students differently, with differences rooted in biology rather than similar, signals teacher educators' unawareness of gender inequalities and societal stereotypes from which these inequalities stem. This might create a gendered learning environment that treats female and male students differently.

#### *STEM Teacher Educators' Views on Gender Role Stereotypes*

As mentioned previously, the gendered views on girls' and women's abilities in STEM could have stemmed from social stereotypes and gender role stereotypes existing in society. Most teacher educators seem to conform to gender role stereotypes that are prescribed to girls and women. As one participant stated: "Our [women's] role is different" (Participant N, female, Chemistry). "In our KZ culture, too, we have to cook food and care for kids; we can't say we are going to do something [meaningful]" (Participant-E, female, Mathematics).

Some participants were even very defensive of their views, arguing that it is normal to have fewer women in STEM areas. They did not even support the idea that men and women should be equally represented in STEM. As one teacher stated: "Do we need to change the situation at all? Maybe leave it as it is [women are underrepresented], as this is normal? Why do we need to address this problem and attract more women to STEM? There is no need" (Participant-I, male, Physics). A similar quote from another participant: "We want more girls in STEM area? For what?" (Participant-Q, male, Informatics).

The comments above point out that teachers are socialized in a gendered patriarchal society that fosters gender inequality (Peshkova & Thibault, 2022; Thibault & Caron, 2022). Teacher educators' patriarchal socialization in the context of strictly defined gender norms is a contributing factor to their lack of gender awareness and unwillingness to implement gender responsiveness in their teaching practices.

#### *Teacher Educators' Sexist Attitudes and Gendered Practices*

The study identified an association between the teacher educators' gendered views on students' ability and their gendered teaching practices. The comment from a participant who describes active teacher-student engagement with those students who, in her view, are more capable in STEM is particularly illustrative:

I see those students who are more capable and then work with these students more … I do not practice gender responsiveness. Male or female students, I do not care, I just engage more with those students who are more capable, but, as you understand, they are mostly males. (Participant-I, male, Physics)

Another example of gendered practices that teacher educators seem to communicate to pre-service teachers included: "The boys should be stronger; that's why the teacher should explain to them that they are '*jigits*' [horse riders]. And the teachers need to explain to girls that they are a weaker gender" (Participant-G, female, Chemistry).

Overall, about half of the teacher educators displayed discriminatory or even sexist attitudes to girls' and women's academic achievement, women's representation in STEM, and their choice of subjects.

# Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to generate insights into the tensions associated with STEM teacher educators' gender awareness and their understanding of gender-responsive pedagogies in Kazakhstan. It has become evident that teacher educators have little understanding of how the gender gap in STEM fields is associated with teaching and attributed it to other factors, such as family/ parents influence, stereotypes about STEM professions, lack of government policies, and influence of media.

The findings also reveal that STEM teacher educators display a limited understanding of gender-responsive pedagogies and differentiated instructional and assessment strategies. STEM teacher educators also demonstrate low levels of gender awareness and a lack of knowledge and skills for implementing gender-responsive pedagogies. Moreover, teacher educators also seem to hold strong beliefs in men's superior performance in STEM (Copur-Genturk et al., 2020). These gendered attitudes predict women's self-perceptions of their abilities in STEM and future success in STEM above and beyond academic performance as they limit the aspirations of female students who assimilate these attitudes (Sansone, 2017). The students are more likely to be disengaged in STEM subjects if teachers project gender stereotypes. Moreover, if STEM teacher educators hold gendered attitudes and values, it means that they transmit these values to pre-service teachers (Chicunda, 2014).

With respect to teachers' agency for addressing gender inequities, shifting STEM teachers' gendered views also presents a challenge. STEM teacher educators in Kazakhstan display a lack of agency to embody and enact gender justice. Their enactment of teaching is highly influenced by gender role stereotypes existing in Kazakhstani society, as STEM teachers endorse these stereotypes. This reflects in their gendered practices and discriminatory attitudes. Through their gendered practices, teachers also communicate their views, values, and beliefs about the subject they teach (Grootenboer & Ballantine, 2010). It has also become evident that STEM teacher educators are not in the position to systematically engage with the problem of girls' and women's underrepresentation in STEM, thereby limiting the agency of pre-service STEM teachers to engage with this issue when they start to teach at schools.

Revealing these STEM teacher educators' gendered views and practices, it is important to suggest ways to challenge them. In the following section, the mitigating strategies to address the tensions associated with STEM teacher education and perceptions of inequity in STEM are discussed.

#### *Applying the 4R Framework for Addressing the Tensions in STEM Teacher Education*

#### *Recognition*

As Fraser (2001, 2007) argued, when cultural structures restrict women and deny them the resources (in our case, access to quality STEM education and STEM careers) to be on equal grounds with men, the under-recognition and maldistribution become issues of gender justice. In the context of STEM teacher education, recognition involves acknowledging and addressing the ways in which STEM teacher educators may hold gendered attitudes and beliefs that can impact their understanding and implementation of gender-responsive pedagogies. This can include recognizing the existence of gender stereotypes that contribute to these attitudes and practices, as well as recognizing the lack of consistent policies, addressing gender inequality as well as understanding any cultural, historical, and socio-economic factors that may influence these gendered attitudes and beliefs.

#### *Redistribution*

Redistribution refers to the ways in which resources and opportunities are distributed among different groups of people. In the context of STEM teacher education, redistribution involves addressing how gendered practices in STEM teaching may be limiting the opportunities for female STEM students.

Certain measures should be implemented to eliminate the gendered practices in STEM teaching. The tasks in STEM subjects should be gender-sensitive in a way that meets the specifics of students' learning styles. The content of STEM teaching materials and textbooks should avoid stereotypical language and images. The materials should also contain images or representations where the traditional division of labor is reversed, and both women and men are promoted as being equally successful in STEM occupations. The curriculum should reflect the positive representation of women working in STEM fields. The students' existing knowledge should be considered as, in many cases, girls might not have the same exposure to STEM activities and might not possess some skills at the same level as boys (e.g., ICT skills). Therefore, teachers should select the STEM activities as well as the course material and assessment based on an understanding of students' existing skills and preparedness. Teachers should promote a discussion with school administration and parents if, in some subjects and STEM clubs/activities, the girls are particularly underrepresented.

#### *Representation*

Representation refers to the ways in which different groups of people are represented in various spheres of society. In the context of STEM teacher education, representation involves addressing the lack of training, mentoring, and professional development opportunities both for STEM

#### 112 A. ALMUKHAMBETOVA

teacher educators and STEM teachers. As critical actors, STEM teacher educators need to be exposed to training and professional development on how to incorporate gender responsiveness and genderresponsive instructional and assessment strategies in teaching pre-service STEM teachers. This training should be incorporated into teacher training programs across Kazakhstan. The study highlights the need for supporting teacher educators' professional development to help improve their knowledge of gender responsive pedagogy in addition to improving their gender awareness and eliminating gendered attitudes and practices.

#### *Reconciliation*

In the context of STEM teacher education, reconciliation means implementing policies and practices that raise awareness of teaching-related hindrances and empower STEM teachers to enact their agency and work toward creating a more inclusive and equitable STEM education system. STEM teachers at all levels should display a conscious effort to promote girls' interests in STEM. There needs to be a shift in STEM teacher educators' awareness toward becoming more agentic and engaging more talented female students to STEM, making it more inclusive and welcoming for girls.

### References

Border crossing into the physics classroom. *International Journal of Science Education, 27* (3), 281–302.

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Uncovering Gender, Language, and Intersected Asymmetries in History Textbooks

# *Zhazira Bekzhanova*

# Introduction

Gender equality is crucial for peace and social cohesion. According to Kangas et al. (2014), greater gender inequality can lead to increased social tension. It is particularly important to reduce tensions in school education since pupils can be brought up with the assumption that injustice is the norm, and they might practise exclusion and discrimination when reaching adulthood. Therefore, the United Nations has prioritised sustainable development goal (SDG) 4.7 within SDG 4 'Quality Education' (United Nations, 2015). SDG 4.7 aims to provide knowledge and skills for learners to foster gender equality, peace, and non-violence (United Nations, 2015).

Heriot-Watt International Faculty, K. Zhubanov Aktobe Regional University, Aktobe, Kazakhstan e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
117

Z. Bekzhanova (B)

<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2023

N. Durrani and H. Thibault (eds.), *The Political Economy of Education in Central Asia*, The Steppe and Beyond: Studies on Central Asia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8517-3\_7

All three Central Asian countries included in the current book have recognised SDG 4 and borrowed and adjusted it to their national policies. Kazakhstan, for instance, does not directly report on SDG 4.7, but expresses its commitment to the general SDG 4 (Sustainable Development Goals, n.d) and has adopted inclusive education, which might show its commitment to SDG 4.7 (Kazakhstan, 2007). Tajikistan is more explicit about SDG 4.7, and it has set up an objective 'to ensure access to quality and inclusive life-long learning and skills opportunities' in education (United Nations Tajikistan, 2022). Uzbekistan emphasises that the schools teach human and children's rights at school within SDG 4.7 (State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics, n.d.).

However, none of the countries explicitly mentions gender equality as an essential part of SDG 4.7 or what they do to provide knowledge on gender equity in education in their local reports. Nevertheless, as the Central Asian countries have announced their commitment to the goal, it can be assumed that gender equality is also implied to be one of the values in their policies since SDG 4.7 includes it. This study seeks to verify this assumption within school history textbooks. Focusing on Kazakhstan as a case, this paper examines whether secondary schools share and project positive views on gender equality in school textbooks, and whether they contribute to instilling the new generation with gender equality values. Additionally, the study explores the intersection of gender with other social and language bias, responding to the impetus by Durrani et al. (2022).

The impact of the school curriculum in shaping pupils' worldviews makes it important to uncover any discrepancies between national policy on social equality, education, and curriculum content. The focus is on Kazakhstani history curriculum and textbooks since this country ranks higher on education and gender equality indicators (Tabaeva et al., 2021), making it a critical case study. Kazakhstan's superiority in gender equality is obvious by its lowest gender inequality index (GII) in the region—0.161 for 2021, while in Tajikistan it equals 0.285, and in Uzbekistan—0.227 (UNDP, 2022). Hence, Kazakhstani school textbooks are expected to align with gender equality targets and indicators more than other countries in the region. If gender and ethnic inequalities are found even in Kazakhstani textbooks, this may indicate that these challenges are more profound in other Central Asian countries.

This study seeks to verify this alignment by examining history textbooks. Globally, history textbooks have been shown to reflect political ideologies and perpetuate inequalities (Bush & Saltarelli, 2000), and they are a key site for constructing national identity in a gendered way since national narratives in history textbooks differentiate between men and women concerning their positions and responsibilities (Durrani & Dunne, 2010). By exploring history textbooks from a gender perspective, we can gain a deeper understanding of other social asymmetries in education (Dunne, 2009), particularly regarding nation-building strategies (Tabaeva et al., 2021).

# Conceptual Framework

#### *Gender (in)equality in Central Asia and Kazakhstan*

Despite a shared history, cultural heritage, Turkic roots, Islam as a predominant religion, and geographical proximity, Central Asian countries vary in gender equality due to several reasons, including different levels of commitment to traditions and religion. For example, Uzbekistan was historically more religious than Kazakhstan, and Uzbek women faced greater challenges from the Soviet anti-veiling campaign (1920s) (Kane & Gorbenko, 2016). The Soviet administration viewed Muslim women in Central Asia as 'backward and oppressed', with the first step towards gender equality being the reduction of Islam's influence (Behzadi & Direnberger, 2020).

Being in close proximity to Russia, Kazakh women actively followed the Soviet women's emancipation policies and participated in the labour market equally with men relative to other Central Asian women (Heer & Youseff, 2018). For example, Tajik women, especially those from rural areas, were not as involved in the labour market as Kazakh women (Behzadi & Direnberger, 2020). Despite the women's emancipation policy, the Soviet administration's perception of gender equality was superficial, as women were still expected to perform most of the domestic duties, while men, in contrast, were distanced from them (Kandiyoti, 2007). Besides, women were primarily involved in low-paid jobs such as teaching (Belova, 2011).

After the USSR's dissolution, Central Asian states revived traditional gender norms which they associated with Islam, reinforcing gender imbalance in favour of men (Thibault, 2021).  In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, girls' participation in school education was lower than boys in the early post-Soviet stage (Silova & Abdushukurova, 2009), and in Kazakhstan, women are still underrepresented and marginalised in the high-paid STEM field (CohenMiller et al., 2021). While Kazakhstan has been relatively ahead in gender equality (UNDP, 2022), previous studies still report significant gender disparity and stereotyped gender roles in school textbooks (Durrani et al., 2022; Fedosseyev, 2022; Palandjian et al., 2018), along with an ethnically oriented nation-building policy that prioritises titular Kazakh ethnicity (Asanova, 2007). Uzbekistani and Tajikistani textbooks also appear to praise titular ethnicities through their history narratives (Blakkisrud & Nozimova, 2010; Ersanli, 2002).

The current study aims to analyse the broader picture of gender disparities, considering their intersection with other forms of social marginalisation, particularly ethnicity, with a focus on Kazakhstan and its 'politicised' history textbooks. For this, I frame my multi-layered discourse analysis within the 4Rs framework.

### The 4RS in Textbook Gender Discourses

Using the Political Economy of Education Research (PEER) perspective, this study applies the 4Rs framework to explore the impact of inequalities on social cohesion across different domains in crisis- or conflict-affected contexts. The 4Rs framework, proposed by Novelli et al. (2017), includes four dimensions requiring amendments: redistribution—ensuring access to knowledge for all, representation—involving all the stakeholders in decision-making in education, recognition—acknowledging diverse identities in the educational system and reconciliation—promoting understanding and respect between social groups. This framework is applicable to the study of Kazakhstan, a post-Soviet multiethnic country with dominating titular Kazakhs, then Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, and others (Bureau of national statistics, 2023). The country is going through postcolonial transformation and has experienced several interethnic conflicts since independence (Tabaeva et al., 2021). The co-existence of these ethnicities and cultures is expected to be projected in history textbooks, and to study this issue through a gender lens, I use the 4Rs' adaptation to gender analysis suggested by Durrani and Halai (2018).

#### *Redistribution*

History textbooks can create hegemonic discourses on gender in which women are not portrayed as agents of change. Thus, they are mostly portrayed in domestic activities such as cooking, cleaning, and child caring or stereotypically 'feminine' occupations such as teachers and healthcare specialists, while men are depicted in higher professional jobs and more important roles in society across multiple school textbooks in Kazakhstan (Durrani et al., 2022; Palandjian et al., 2018). Such portrayal can limit career guidance and socially active role models for girls.

The scarcity of knowledge about prominent women may reveal deeper knowledge gaps in textbooks, with pupils receiving limited information about female role models at one grade while completely excluding them at the next level. This raises the question about the fair distribution of knowledge. Additionally, girls may be deprived of knowledge about representatives of their identities, such as ethnicity (Kazakh and non-Kazakh) or language (Kazakh or Russian), despite the multiethnicity of Kazakhstani society. Kazakhstani education, overall, is inclined to be ethnically oriented and prioritises Kazakh language speakers (Bekzhanova & Makoelle, 2022). Given the multidimensionality of discrimination, I adopt an intersectional view of gender offered by Isakovic (2018), who argues that gender should not be treated as the only factor which affects inequalities, and other intersecting identities, such as race, social class, age, and ethnicity also shape asymmetries. Accordingly, my analysis investigates whether gender intersects with ethnic identities to exacerbate the scarcity of knowledge about certain characters in historical narratives in school textbooks.

#### *Recognition*

Recognition or recognitive justice refers to the respect and validation of different identities, backgrounds, and experiences in society (Novelli et al., 2017). It is especially important for multicultural Kazakhstan since it fosters peace between diverse groups. However, previous studies focusing on gender have shown that women are not given enough recognition as successful figures in science, politics, and other stereotypically 'masculine' domains (Durrani et al., 2022; Fedosseyev, 2022; Palandjian et al., 2018). They are often depicted in relation to men and considered inferior to them. None of these works, however, examine the issue of recognition of other intersected identities such as ethnicity, social class, or language in history textbooks.

#### *Representation*

Representation is important to understand how the voices of all stakeholders in producing history textbooks are heard. One of the key stakeholders in compiling relevant content for history textbooks is the Kazakhstani Government. It aims to promote inclusive education (Kazakhstan, 2007) and gender equality in society (Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2019). However, it is unknown whether the voice of this stakeholder, the Kazakhstani Government, is actually heard while producing the history textbooks since, as Dukeyev (2023) argues, history textbook authors in Kazakhstan write about the past without external pressures or control from policymakers.

#### *Reconciliation*

Reconciliation, according to Novelli et al. (2017), means mitigating social inequities in the past and creating a more just society. In terms of gender, Durrani and Halai (2018) argue that it is crucial to reduce the association of hegemonic masculinities with violence and promote mutual understanding in society. Meanwhile, school curriculum often promotes aggression as the ideal trait of a man and encourages genderbased violence against women (Durrani, 2008). Similarly, it is unclear how the ideal masculinity is portrayed in Kazakhstani history textbooks and whether they also perpetuate violence and threaten security. This gap needs investigation.

# Methodology

The gaps in gender scholarship in Kazakhstani school curriculum raise the following research question:

How is gender enacted across history textbooks of different levels (i.e. grade 7th–11th) in Kazakhstani schools?

Does the language of the textbooks (i.e. Kazakh and Russian) influence gender representations and inclusion/exclusion issues?

I respond to the above questions by using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) and quantitative methods.

I employed MCDA as a tool for my qualitative analysis. In this approach, all modes of discourse, including text, image, sounds, etc., contribute to meaning-making and should be considered (Jewitt, 2008; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006). Here, I explore the link between the meanings communicated through texts and images in history textbooks. While both modes do not have to be congruent, they can complement each other. Images can reveal more hidden ideas of the discourse since they offer wider options for interpretation (van Leeuwen, 2008). I chose Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) since it aligns with the 4Rs framework of this study. CDA focuses on social inequalities, discrimination, and exclusion/inclusion issues in political and social contexts (Fairclough, 2010; Van Dijk, 1993). Among diverse methods of CDA, I narrowed down to van Leeuwen's (2008) social actor analysis for both discourse modes, i.e. text and images.

Van Leeuwen (2008) posits that social actors are discourse participants who can and cannot be 'agents' (active doers) (p.23). In this case, the icons and other characters in the history textbook discourses were viewed as social actors in alignment with my analytical tool. How textbook authors represent social actors—through inclusion or exclusion—sheds light on the attitude of a discourse producer to the actors, as well as social hierarchies in the discourse (Darics & Koller, 2019). Precisely, I focused on gender hierarchies.

First, I performed a basic quantitative analysis, counting social actors in the textbooks. To explore the relationship between gender and ethnic bias, I created a table with columns for Kazakh males and non-Kazakh males, Kazakh females, and non-Kazakh females in textbooks both in Kazakh and Russian. I divided the actors roughly into Kazakhs and non-Kazakhs without any clarification of the ethnicities of the latter. Then, I counted the number of social actors presented for each ethnic and gender group in the textbooks. Each social actor was counted only once in the text, even if they were mentioned in other chapters.

In the qualitative stage, I aimed to verify or refute my findings from the quantitative analysis. For this, I conducted a social actor analysis of the modes, summarising each chapter and noting instances of gender-based and intersected exclusions and inclusions of social actors. The analysis was conducted comparatively in both Kazakh and Russian textbooks of the same grade, chapter by chapter, to detect discrepancies in representations and suggest corrections.

The qualitative analysis provided additional insights into the quantitative findings, resulting in three themes: gender and ethnic bias, gender and language bias, and gender norms in the history textbooks.

# Findings and Discussions

#### *Gender and Ethnic Bias*

The quantitative analysis demonstrates a significant gender imbalance in favour of men in the texts (Fig. 7.1). Bars 3 and 4 for Kazakh language textbooks and bars 7 and 8 for Russian language textbooks indicate that women are almost invisible. This suggests that linguistic representation of women as social actors is low. There is some difference between representing Kazakh and non-Kazakh women, but it appears to be less significant than the difference in men's representation. Therefore, gender identity seems to influence the exclusion of social actors much more than ethnicity. In contrast, the analysis of illustrations provides more controversial patterns such as the unexpected numerical dominance of Kazakh women over non-Kazakh men in grade 7 (Fig. 7.2).

Overall, women seem to be underrepresented in the images as well. However, there are some fluctuations across grades. For instance, Kazakh women (35) in grade 7 appear in images more than non-Kazakh men (19) and are almost equally presented in grade 8 (18/19). Upon conducting an in-depth visual analysis, it became apparent that while the images indeed include females, all of them are in group pictures, such as those in Figs. 7.3 and 7.4, and not in portraits, except for singer M. Shamsutdinova in 7th grade Kazakh textbook (p. 139) and an abstract Kazakh woman (p. 165).

Even in these group pictures, women are depicted engaging in stereotypically accepted activities such as doing handicrafts like felting (Fig. 7.3) and being (prospective) teachers (Fig. 7.4). Following van Leeuwen's (2008) distinction between close-up and 'long shot' visualisations of social actors (p. 138), I assume that the underrepresentation of women

**Fig. 7.1** Frequency of distribution of social actors across grades by gender and ethnicity in text

**Fig. 7.2** Distribution of social actors across grades by gender and ethnicity in illustrations

**Fig. 7.3** Felting (7th grade, Kazakh, p. 52)

**Fig. 7.4** Kazakh pedagogical (teacher training) institute (11th grade, 2nd part, Russian, p. 125)

in portraits could indicate more preference for men whose portraits dominate.

Another observation is that non-Kazakh women are visually represented more than Kazakh females in grades 9 and 11 in both languages (Fig. 7.2). However, all those illustrations are group pictures, and some of them are not related to Kazakhstan, but rather depict events in Russia (Figs. 7.5 and 7.6). The strikes in Figs. 7.5 and 7.6 are visualised from an upper perspective, from top to down, implying a distance from the viewer's history and identity, as suggested in Kress and van Leeuwen (2006, p. 145). The textbook narration states that the events happened at a distance, in Russia, but are closely linked to Kazakhstani history.

Generally, portraying women's social activism in these illustrations is a positive feature of the 9th grade textbooks. Non-Kazakh females here even outnumber Kazakh women (Fig. 7.2). Likewise, non-Kazakh females dominate over Kazakh ones in images for 11th grade and texts in grade 10 (due to portrayal of Russian queens) (Fig. 7.2). Nevertheless, overall,

**Fig. 7.5** October revolution, 1917 (9th grade, part 1, Russian, p. 46)

**Fig. 7.6** Strike of women workers of Putilov plant on the first day of the February Revolution, 1917 (9th grade, Russian, part 1, p. 41)

non-Kazakh females are still the least represented group across all the textbooks (Fig. 7.7), and their images are not close-up portraits which can imply they are not positioned as close to the viewers' identities.

Besides, non-Kazakh women are excluded as prominent figures in the Kazakhstani discourse by not being presented in close-up or portrait format. The most discriminatory textbooks are for grades 7, 8, and 11 (except images) in both Russian and Kazakh languages. Grade 10 features more non-Kazakh men and women than Kazakh ones, but this is due to the overuse of citations of famous foreign scholars such as Karl Ritter, Herodotus, and Alexander von Humboldt. Grade 11 shows more non-Kazakh than Kazakh females, but this is caused by overusing group pictures. The most gender-inclusive grades are 9 and 10, produced by Mektep.

This pattern contributes to redistribution of the 4Rs model, as girls (both Kazakh and non-Kazakh) need knowledge of successful females as role models, especially as highly appreciated heroes, social activists, professionals, and scientists. Moreover, non-titular ethnic schoolgirls require knowledge of prominent social actors of their ethnic and gender identities

**Fig. 7.7** The overall distribution of social actors based on gender and ethnicity in texts and illustrations

as role models (at least, non-Kazakhs). Similar to ethnic bias, discrimination in language can also affect gender and intersecting inequalities.

#### *Gender and Language Bias*

A comparative analysis of social actors in Kazakh and Russian language texts reveals some differences, despite the two languages appearing identical at first glance. Furthermore, the textbooks seem to be translations of each other, either from Russian into Kazakh or vice versa. Thus, one of the assignments asks students to describe their favourite writers and artists in the essay (Table 7.1).

In Kazakh, not all nouns have inherent lexical gender. This is particularly evident in the case of professions or occupation nouns. In general, Kazakh does not form feminine equivalents for professions by changing the endings or using different forms of the noun. The only possible way to emphasise a feminine gender is adding the word '*əйeл' ('female')* before the noun, for instance, *'əйeл құpылыcшы'* ('*female builder'*) and '*əйeл дəpiгep'* ('*female doctor'*). This construction emphasises the gender which may not always be relevant or necessary.

**Table 7.1** An example of linguistic bias

*Source* 10th grade, Kazakh, p. 240 and Russian, p. 242

In contrast, the Russian language has the capacity to form feminine nouns out of masculine ones. However, in most cases, this capacity is not used, and a masculine noun is used as a generic default to include both genders. Consequently, contemporary Russian is criticised for being gender insensitive, and these days linguists recommend using more feminine nouns to increase the visibility of women (Doleschal & Schmid, 2001). Similarly, text in Russian (Table 7.1) does not give students an option to include females. It asks to write about 'writers' (пиcaтeли) which is a masculine noun in plural form. Although it is used as a generic and neutral default, it would be beneficial to use the feminine form *'пиcaтeльницы' (female writers)* adding the relevant suffix since this word officially exists and does not possess any negative connotation (as some Russian feminine forms of nouns on occupation do). The same critique could be applied to the use of *'xyдoжник' (artist)* in Russian. There is a possibility to use the form *'xyдoжницa' (female artist)* to emphasise the option of writing about women.

I am not suggesting changing the language rules or inventing feminine nouns as practised in social and mass media. However, it might be possible to incorporate at least the officially existing feminine nouns into textbook discourses, e.g. '*кaзaшки и кaзaxи'* (female and male Kazakhs), '*кoлxoзницы и кoлxoзники*' (female and male collective farmers). The problem is that, according to the research, these default masculine nouns are primarily associated with men, not women (Doleschal, 1993; Schmid, 1998). In contrast, the Kazakh language is not gendered, so adding more feminine nouns through morphological means (suffixes), like in Russian, is not possible.

Table 7.1 poses another issue, which is the differences in translations. The Kazakh textbook prompts students to depict any writer or artist, while the Russian textbook specifies that it should be a Kazakh or Kazakhstani artist ('Kazakhstani' is in the brackets). Generally, 'Kazakhstani' implies the nation with multiple ethnicities, and distinguishing Kazakhs may suggest hidden priority to them as a titular ethnicity which could marginalise non-Kazakh pupils in Russian classes. Therefore, with respect to the redistribution of knowledge within the 4Rs framework, female social actors and those of non-Kazakh ethnicities are marginalised. To address this issue, increasing their representation and highlighting the importance of information about them are necessary. Additionally, it is crucial to examine how exactly these females and males are represented and how gender norms are taught to pupils.

#### *Understanding of Gender Norms*

#### *Idealised Femininities*

Textbook discourses portray the 'ideal' woman as weak, vulnerable, submissive, and passive. These gender norms can be communicated implicitly in the textbooks. Discourse producers highlight passiveness and submissiveness by placing social actors in certain positions within the sentence. This pattern is exemplified in extract (1):

(1) *Жaнқoжa Кeнecapы Қacымұлымeн тyыcтық қapым-қaтынac opнaтты. Xaн oның қызынa үйлeндi*

*Zhankozha established a kinship relationship with Kenesary Kasymuli. The Khan married his daughter" (7th grade, Kazakh, p. 101*)

Here, Zhankozha's daughter is depicted as an object in the sentence, not a subject, despite the fact that marriage is an action that requires the participation of both partners. Following van Leeuwen's (2008, pp. 30– 31) explanation, this backgrounding of the woman as a social actor suggests that the marriage was not her decision, but rather that of her father due to his political interests. Otherwise, the sentence could be '*Khan and Zhankozha's daughter got married*'.

This pattern of discourse is confirmed in images as well, which often illustrate women as victims and a weak social group (Figs. 7.8 and 7.9).

#### 132 Z. BEKZHANOVA

**Fig. 7.8** A woman in famine is holding her starving child (8th grade, Kazakh, p. 98)

The stigma surrounding women's passiveness, however, is occasionally mitigated in certain discourses where women perform as prominent icons. As such, extract (2) presents Saka queens Tomiris and Zarina with admiration highlighting their exceptional status and achievements:

(2) *B caкcкoм oбщecтвe y жeнщин был выcoкий cтaтyc….цapицa Зapинa нe тoлькo ycпeшнo вoeвaлa c «вapвapaми», нo и ocнoвaлa нecкoлькo гopoдoв,a цapицa Toмиpиc вoзглaвлялa cвoe цapcтвo в вoйнe пpoтив пepcoв*.

**Fig. 7.9** People deported to Kazakhstan from the borders of the Soviet Union (11th grade, Russian, p. 113)

*In the Saka society, women had a high status…Queen Zarina not only successfully fought against the "barbarians", but also founded several cities, and Queen Tomiris led her kingdom in the war against the Persians* (9th grade, Russian, p. 105)

This chapter devotes special attention and space to these women, who are positioned as the direct ancestors of Kazakhs. Notably, their accomplishments are framed in stereotypically 'masculine' domains, such as fighting against barbarians, founding cities, and leading the kingdom into war. This representation signals that women are recognised as prominent figures mostly when they possess so-called 'masculine' abilities. Although some prominent women are represented in the 9th grade, there are still not enough of them, which raises the issue of recognising women in the Kazakhstani history discourse. Additionally, one of the mentioned prominent non-Kazakh women is Nataliya Sats in extract (3).

(3) *…. ycилиями cocлaннoй в Aлмa-Aтy Haтaлии Caц в cтoлицe Кaзaxcтaнa пoявилcя Teaтp юнoгo зpитeля…..* (10th grade, Russian, p. 229)

*…. with the efforts of Nataliya Sats, who had been deported to Alma-Ata, in the capital of Kazakhstan there appeared a Theatre of the Young Spectator…*  (10th grade, Russian, p. 229)

However, the female social actor is not presented as a subject, but the attribute to the subject 'efforts', implying that her efforts were not the only ones that established the theatre. Furthermore, there is a discrepancy between the Russian and Kazakh textbooks, with the Kazakh version providing only the first letter of her name (H. Caц), which does not enable readers to identify her gender. This difference between the Kazakh and Russian textbooks is unfair because Kazakh-speaking pupils may not realise that the social actor is a woman, especially a non-Kazakh woman. An accompanying illustration could be helpful to reveal Sats' gender, but no image is provided. This raises the problem of recognition of all social groups, as emphasised in the 4Rs model. The marginalisation of non-Kazakh females in textbooks is a problem that should be resolved. The following prominent non-Kazakh women could be included in the textbook: athletes O. Shishigina and E. Rybakina, or a geologist T. Koshkina. As indicated, feminine identities are often described stereotypically with acknowledgement based on 'masculine' abilities such as fighting, establishing a kingdom. Acknowledgement of females also varies based on ethnicity. Recognition for men, however, relies on different gender norms.

#### *Hegemonic Masculinity*

In history textbooks, an 'ideal' man is illustrated as strong, powerful, active and decisive, and a leader, warrior, social activist, or a scientist. This confirms previous studies on textbooks from diverse curriculum areas (Durrani et al., 2022; Palandjian et al., 2018).

An eye-catching pattern in history textbooks is that aggression, war, and conflict are associated with men. Although there are a few women warriors (Tomiris, Zarina, A. Moldagulova, etc.), even they are not visualised as agents in real battles. Their positions in images are such that viewers look up at them and admire them as role models (Fig. 7.10) (van Leeuwen, 2008, pp. 139–141).

Thus, women are not associated with violence as much as men, whose images are often depicted in battle scenes like in Fig. 7.11.

**Fig. 7.10** Kazakh female soldiers A. Moldagulova and M. Mametova (8th grade, Kazakh, p. 150)

In this regard, texts are congruent with illustrations. In extract (4), for instance, a prominent icon Abulkhair Khan's violence is praised as a positive feature:

(4) *Əбiлқaйыp xaн .... қaлмaқтapғa қapcы бipнeшe жeңicтi жopық жacaды,.... Tүpкicтaн қaлacынa жeтiп, oны тiкeлeй шaбyылмeн aзaт eттi,....жoңғapлapғa қapcы бipнeшe cəттi жopық жacaды. Ocы кeздe oның ұйымдacтыpyшылық тaлaнты, …қahapмaн epлiгi aйқын тaнылды.*

*Abulkhair Khan .... conducted several victorious invasions of Kalmyks,.... reached the city of Turkestan and liberated it by a direct attack,.... made several successful invasions of Dzungars. At this time, his organisational talent, ….and personal heroism were clearly recognised.* (7th grade, Kazakh, pp. 17–18)

**Fig. 7.11** The Battle of bulanty-bilenti (7th grade, Kazakh, p. 21)

Although the extract depicts invasions as defence and response to the enemies, this cannot mitigate Abulkhair's violence. He performs as a foregrounded agentive social actor who initiated the invasions. The use of positive adjectives like '*successful'* and *'victorious'*, as well as phrases like '*organisational talent',* etc., reinforces the message. This can contribute to the normalisation of masculine violence.

To mitigate the praise of violence, the use of a modal verb such as 'have to' and backgrounding Abulkhair as a social actor could be useful. For example, '*The army under Abulkhair's subjugation had to invade them in response'* (Kazakh: *' Əбiлқaйыp бacшылығындaғы əcкep oлapғa жayaп peтiндe жopық жacayғa мəжбүp бoлды*' and Russian: '*Apмия в пoдчинeнии Aбyлxaиpa былa вынyждeнa cдeлaть oтвeтнoe нaшecтвиe'*). This issue relates to the reconciliation domain of the 4Rs' framework and calls for the replacement of violent masculinity with peaceful masculinity (Durrani & Halai, 2018, p. 30). Promoting aggression as a normal and even positive feature for men is not desirable in educating pupils.

# Conclusions