ABSTRACT

Character portrayals are important to consider when investigating the effects of educational television on young viewers. When it comes to academic interests and career aspirations, children take cues from the media representations around them. This study is a content analysis of STEM-focused children’s television shows, with attention to gender and race representation amongst the characters in those programs. Across 90 episodes of programs that claim to teach STEM to young children, 1,086 unique speaking characters were coded on demographics, physical attributes, centrality to the plot, and modeling of STEM behaviors and occupations. Following traditional industry trends, female and minority characters were underrepresented in these programs compared to population statistics. However, when it came to the centrality of their role and on-screen STEM engagement, characters were portrayed relatively equally regardless of their race or gender. This was true, especially, for characters depicted as children, but less so for adult characters, who followed more traditionally stereotypical trends. Findings align closely with prior character-focused content analyses, but also present some areas in which the industry may be moving towards more egalitarian practices.

摘要

在调查教育电视对年轻观众的影响时，角色刻画很重要。当谈到学术兴趣和职业抱负时，孩子们会从他们周围的媒体代表中获得线索。这项研究是对以 STEM 为重点的儿童电视节目的内容分析，关注这些节目中角色的性别和种族代表性。在声称向幼儿教授 STEM 的 90 集节目中，1,086 个独特的说话角色被编码为人口统计、身体属性、情节的中心性以及 STEM 行为和职业的建模。按照传统的行业趋势，与人口统计数据相比，女性和少数民族角色在这些节目中的代表性不足。然而，当谈到角色的核心地位和屏幕 STEM 参与度时，无论种族或性别如何，角色都被相对平等地描绘。这是真的，特别是对于描绘成儿童的角色，但对于遵循更传统的陈规定型趋势的成人角色则不然。调查结果与之前以人物为中心的内容分析密切相关，但也提出了一些行业可能正在朝着更加平等的做法迈进的领域。