The Depiction of Expert Women in Canadian Newspapers

Abstract

This study focuses on gender inequality in representations of “expert” women in the media. Existing scholarly literature has demonstrated that, in general, women are underrepresented or portrayed as objects or victims in the media. Very little of this literature has examined depictions of “expert” women. The research is guided by this question: How are “expert” women depicted in contemporary Canadian newspapers? The methodologica l framework of the research is a mixed-methods approach using discourse analysis as methodology and content analysis as the concrete method. The data were collected from all news pages of the National Post and the Globe and Mail. Content analysis data were chosen monthly from the first day of each month of the year 2015 for both newspapers. Data for discourse analysis were selected from all issues in November 2015, since the event of Justin Trudeau’s selection of a gender-equal cabinet occurred in this period of time, putting gender, representation, and expertise at the center of a national conversation. Drawing upon the content analysis, I examined the hypothesis of the existence of gender inequality in both national newspapers. The findings confirm that there is gender disparity in newspapers’ representation. Studying news stories about Justin Trudeau’s selection of a gender-equal cabinet through discourse analysis helped to identify some particular discourses that reinforce and reproduce gender inequality—not only in the news stories but also in society more broadly.