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Fernanda D. Azevedo
Abstract
Gender bias is something our society has dealt with for many years. There has always
been a sense of inequality and a divide between what a woman should be allowed to do and what
a man should be allowed to do. Along with what is actually allowed or not, there are also
expectations surrounding gender. While there has been tremendous progress in bridging these
gaps, there are still noticeable biases and stereotypes surrounding gender. In the music
classroom, gender bias can be found in several areas including instrument choice and expected
gender of conductors and composers. Instrument choice is one of the most prominent arenas for
gender stereotypes in the beginning instrumental classroom. Many parents have preconceived
notions about which gender should be playing which instruments and try to push their children in
certain directions. This is usually not done with any poor intentions but rather out of fear for the
wellbeing of their child (Abeles, Hafeli, & Sears, 2014). The students themselves also seem to
develop an awareness of gender stereotypes in relation to instrument choice early on. Young
children are very perceptive and will begin associating instruments with gender if that is how it is
presented to them (Wrape, Dittloff, & Callahan, 2016). The fields of conducting and composition
are also generally seen as being very gendered, highly leaning towards being male dominated.
Women are generally seen as being better at teaching elementary school general music rather
than directing and conducting bands. There is a large gap between how many men direct high
school bands and versus their female colleagues. Because of this, women are often discouraged
from pursuing this profession because they do not have many female role models to look up to
(Fischer-Croneis, 2016). Students in music classrooms are also exposed to far more male
composers than female. While in the past, there were many more male composers than female
due to societal constraints, there are many female composers in history and in the present that
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 3
our students are not familiar with (Colley, North, & Hargreaves, 2003). Of course there are more
males who have composed in general, making it difficult to include female composers in the
classroom to the same degree as male composers. Teacher could still, however, embrace female
composers in their classrooms to a greater extent than what is currently being found. If students
were given the opportunity to learn about men and women in a more equal manner, it is possible
that the gap between the genders in these fields would be far smaller, as girls may feel more
Throughout the history of orchestra, there has been fluctuation in what is considered to be
acceptable for men and women to play. A lot of this has to do with restrictions placed on women
in the past. It was seen as wrong for a woman to play a larger instrument so women were far
more likely to play violin and viola, while men were more likely to play cello and bass. All
female orchestras then began to appear which allowed women to play any of the instruments.
Despite this, there are still clear gender biases about the instruments in the orchestra today
(Baker, 2012). These gender biases are also present in the band classroom as well as any other
Many of the gender barriers that have existed in music have lessened or gone away
completely throughout the years, but many stereotypes still exist. It has been found that younger
children, younger than second graders, do not have significant preferences in instruments based
on gender. In the early years of the 21st century, it was found that older children seem to prefer
instruments typically associated with their gender (Cramer, Million, & Perreault, 2002). There
are concerns among educators that gender stereotypes about each instrument are affecting the
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 4
choices students are making about what instrument to play and if they should continue playing it.
In a study conducted with the Texas All-State orchestras between the years of 1971-2010,
females dominated males in the violin 1 and 2 sections. The viola section was a bit closer in
numbers but had more females throughout most of the years with few exceptions. The cello
section was also closer but had more years with more male domination than the viola section did.
In the bass section, there was an overwhelmingly larger population of male musicians than
females. This data shows that there is still a tendency for women to pick the smaller instruments
while men like to steer in the direction of larger instruments, a concept that dates back to
Victorian England (Baker, 2012). In a study conducted in 2016 in an unnamed suburban middle
school within the public school system, students in a beginning band were asked to categorize
flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba, and
percussion into boy and girl instruments. Flute and clarinet were unanimously seen as girl
instruments while tuba was unanimously named a boy instrument. Saxophone and bassoon did
These results were consistent with the actual gender make-up of the middle school band
used for the 2016 study previously mentioned. The gender of the student was found to have had
an effect on how they categorized each instrument. It was evident that students were more likely
to categorize saxophone to their own gender. Girls were also more likely to categorize trombone
and French horn as girl instruments than the boys were. The results of this study show that there
are still strong gender stereotypes for many instruments (Wrape et al., 2016).
When parents are asked to pick an instrument for their child, they also tend to pick
instruments associated with the gender of their child. This shows that these gender biases are
learned and do not inherently exist in people. Children were asked why certain instruments
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 5
should or should not be played by men and women and their answers showed that what they are
told and shown truly has a deep impact on the ideas they form themselves. When children were
asked why a boy should not play flute, both boys and girls responded that they had never seen
that done before so it was assumed that it was not allowed (Cramer et al., 2002). Music
composition is another area of music in which there are differences in representation between
males and females. Men are generally more well known as composers than women. In a study
conducted in 1996, 1098 people were asked to name their favorite classical and pop composers
as well as the greatest in those two categories. In the classical category, no female composer
received more than one nomination for either favorite or greatest. In the pop category, there were
more nominations for females but still only one woman made it into the top ten for favorite and
none made it for greatest (Colley et al., 2003). It is clear that while children are not born with
these stereotypes, they can quickly form when exposed to them initially.
In a study done in the United Kingdom with students from 16 to 19 years old in 2003,
students listened to several musical excerpts from the classical, jazz, and new age genres. They
were asked to give a rating about how likely the excerpt was to have been written by a man or
woman. The genre that really stuck out was jazz, which students believed had a much greater
likelihood of being composed by a man. Students were also asked to rate the competence of each
composition. Female participants gave music by female composers a higher rating while the
male participants gave lower ratings to the jazz compositions written by females. This shows that
the genre of jazz is seen as predominately male, especially by other males, while women see
more of the value of women in jazz (Colley et al., 2003). While this study focused on the lack of
Parents can have a strong effect on how students view gender biases in the instrumental
music world. Many of today’s parents have preconceived notions about the gender that should be
playing each instrument and push this on their children. In this digital age we are living in, many
of these parents are taking to the internet to discuss this issue and ask for advice about the
instrument their own child wants to play. In 2009, one mother posted a distressed comment on a
blog about how her son wanted to play the flute, which to her was clearly a girl instrument. Her
greatest concern, which was met with affirmation from other parents, was that her son would be
bullied for this decision (Abeles et al., 2014). Parents have a tendency to steer their children in
the direction of playing instruments that are usually associated with their gender. This may cause
children who had no previous bias, to begin creating them (Cramer et al., 2002). It has been
found that many parents and students take to the internet to find information about gender
stereotypes in relation to instruments. When comments like those posted by this mother in 2009
are the main source of information other parents and students are coming across when searching
In 2004, third grade students in a large school district in New Jersey participated in a
study about instrument timbre preferences as well as instrument choice. These students were
given the Instrument Timbre Preference Test before beginning instrumental music classes
(Gordon, 1984). The greatest timbre preference for the boys was that of oboe, English horn, and
bassoon. For girls, the greatest preference was for flute, but it was still less than half of the
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 7
female population (Kuhlman, 2004). These results, especially for the male students, are not
completely consistent with the stereotypes generally associated with what instruments each
gender should play. Students and educators were not given these results before students chose
their instruments for the next year, as to not skew any data.
Only 37 students actually chose to play the instrument that they showed a clear timbre
preference for. When they chose which instrument they would be playing, the results were much
more consistent with known stereotypes (Kuhlman, 2004). The results supported the hypothesis
that boys are heavily influenced by gender stereotypes when selecting instruments which takes
precedence over their actual timbre preferences. Girls also had a tendency to follow gender
stereotypes when selecting their instrument as well. Most girls selected flute or clarinet when
less than half of them actually had a preference for those timbres. This data shows that students
allow stereotypes to influence them more than what they actually want and enjoy (Kuhlman,
2004).
Not only does gender factor in to what instrument students play, it also plays a role in
what kind of music they like. In a study done in 2008, with undergraduate students at the
University of Leicester, participants had to rate a variety of musical genres including folk, rock,
reggae, opera, pop, rap, and a variety of other genres. Rock was the most highly rated by men,
while still receiving a fairly high rating from women. Heavy metal, folk, and blues also received
more high ratings from men. Pop received the highest rating from women. This aligns with the
stereotypical idea that men prefer heavier sounds while women prefer lighter music. Women still
did give relatively high ratings to the music that men rated the highest while men saw pop music
as being “uncool.” This is likely because men are less likely to cross the gender associated
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 8
behavior line than women are (Colley, 2008). This is a trend that has been evident in many of the
While women had a greater likelihood of crossing gender lines when in comes to
instrument choice, they are still highly underrepresented in the fields on conducting and
performing at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic throughout several decades in the 20th and
21st century. As the years went on, it was clear that the number of ensembles conducted by
women was growing. In the 1950’s only four women conducted at this conference. By the
2000’s, there were 22 female conductors at the conference. While this is great growth, there are
still far less women conductors present than there are men. In the 21st century thus far, there have
been 106 men who have conducted ensembles at this conference (Sheldon, & Hartley, 2012).
This distribution shows that there is growth in the participation of women in the field of
conducting.
In 2016, a study was conducted involving pre-service and in-service female band
directors. One of the domains that was explored was the ability to gain entry into the profession.
Some of the women reported feeling that they were asked questions in interviews that they did
not believe would be asked of men. One woman reported being asked if she would be scared in
front of so many kids which she perceived as a very sexist comment. Other women were told
things like not to wear their engagement rings or became worried about not being able to get a
job because they were at the age where they may start having children soon (Fischer-Croneis,
2016). While there is no guarantee that all women will face these hardships, these fears do
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 9
become a reality for many women and thus cause many women to feel uneasy when entering this
profession. Another domain that was explored was navigating the profession once a woman had
found entry. One of the biggest concerns was that women had to develop a masculine persona in
order to be successful. They also felt that the profession had a “boys club” culture that made it
difficult for women to be successful in. These issues and concerns are some of the primary
One of the primary reasons women may be hesitant to pursue work in music composition
or conducting is because there is a lack of knowledge about women in these roles (Lindeman,
1992). Young children perceive stereotypes very quickly and very early in life. Just as they
associate playing tuba with men because that is what they are exposed to, they also associate
composition with men because that is generally all they know. When they are only taught about
the contributions of men in music as young students, they begin to think that only men can do
this work. It is important that our curriculum is changing along with everything that is going on
in the world. There are many more contributions to music made by women than there were
previously and these should be taught and celebrated in our elementary school classrooms so that
when students get older, they have a strong basis of knowledge about both men and women in
music (Lindeman, 1992). This will hopefully encourage more women to pursue careers in music.
There are very simple ways of incorporating women in music in to the classroom that do not
Understanding the information that has come from this research can guide a lot of change
in the music classroom. A lot, if not all, of this change needs to initiate from the teachers. One of
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 10
the key pieces of information that has been gathered through this research is that students are
simply not exposed to female composers or conductors. Because of this, they assume that those
professions are not for women which could discourage female students who wish to pursue
careers in these fields. This could also force men to feel that they should be in these positions
instead of, for example, teaching elementary school music, which may be what they truly wish to
pursue.
One of the strongest recommendations for future practice that I could give would be to
introduce both male and female composers and conductors to students. This should start as early
on as in the elementary school general music classroom. One suggestion for implementing this
that could be useful in a classroom of any grade would be to have a composer of the month or
even week. Both male and female composers should be rotated between so that students are
getting a more comprehensive education about musical composers. It could be worth noting that
most female composers are more recent and explaining why that is, as long as it is clear that
there are now many females in the field and it should not be seen as a male only field.
Another way to expose students to both genders being active in all aspects of music
making it to start each class with watching a different video of a skilled performer on various
instruments. Not only would this help students musically by giving them good examples of what
each instrument sounds like so that they have something to strive towards, but it also exposes
them to the many different people that play instruments. Students should be exposed to a good
mixture of both men and women playing each instrument. This will allow them to feel that either
One of the biggest factors that creates gender stereotypes in the music classroom is how
instruments are first presented to students. An idea for a positive way to first introduce students
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 11
to instruments is to not have them watch someone play it at all so they cannot begin associating a
certain gender with an instrument. Of course, they still need to hear what it sounds like and
see/interact with the instrument, but there are other ways of doing so. One way that could work
well would be to have various stations with each of the different instruments that students could
visit. At each station, students could listen to recordings of the instrument playing so that they
can hear the timbre of it but without seeing who is actually playing it. They could then also have
the opportunity to test the instrument or at least hold it and see how it feels to them. This might
allow more students to pick instruments based off of what they actually like the sound of and
what they feel comfortable handling. Hopefully, this would lead to more students continuing in
band for longer and even continuing to produce music beyond their K-12 years.
In order to further the progress towards gender equality in the music classroom, it is
imperative that research continues to be done and that new plans for future practice are
implemented based on the research findings. It is clear through the results of the research that has
already been completed that gender stereotypes do exist. Several outlets that students may be
receiving these stereotypes from have also been identified. Some of these outlets are from their
teachers and parents. In the future, it would be interesting to branch off of this and research how
these different outlets are presenting instruments to students and how this may be creating the
stereotypes.
Music teachers are often tasked with presenting students with the variety of band
instruments for the first time. The method these teachers choose to do this through will create the
basis for a student’s first impression of the different instruments. It would be useful to know
exactly how teachers are introducing students to instruments to gain a better perspective of how
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 12
this may be effecting the student’s views of the gender stereotypes associated with each
instrument. For example, if it is found that a certain school which only has female flute players
has introduced the flute to students by having a female demonstrate what it sounds like for
several years, it could be that students are perceiving the flute as a “girl instrument.” Researching
several schools that have bands of varying gender make-up would provide data that is crucial to
understanding how and why gender stereotypes become so prevalent in the music classroom. It is
important that the gender make-up of the schools that are used in the research are different
because each type of school can give different but equally valuable information. In a school
whose music classroom demonstrates high gender bias such as the example stated earlier,
information about what is causing the stereotypes can be found. In a school where there does not
seem to be much gender bias, researchers can learn about what methods for introducing
instruments that the teacher is using which are not causing stereotypes to form. Finding out this
information can lead to change and reform in how teachers across the country introduce
instruments to children for the first time in order to not create stereotypes.
Researching ways in which parents may be adding to the bias would also be useful to
creating change. Many parents have preconceived notions about what gender should be playing
what instrument, however, many of these notions where created in a much different time. When
todays’ parents were in school and possibly in music classrooms, the gender gap was greater than
it is now and society viewed the genders in a much different way. Parents may still live with
some of these ideas and are now passing them on to their children who are growing up in a much
different time. It would be interesting to find out from parents how they were introduced to
instruments or how adults spoke to them about gender when they were children. This may help
researchers understand why they are now passing these ideas on to their children. It would also
GENDER STEROTYPES IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM 13
be useful to find out the gender of their former music teachers. Knowing if they have ever had a
female music teacher or if they know of any female composers could help to explain why many
people feel that they are male careers. The next step would be to then educate parents about
different ideas that they may have never been exposed to like showing them videos of a talented
Further research is extremely important but even more important than that is to then use
that research to educate others. It is of no use for one or two people to gain knowledge of new
research so it should then be shared with others. Music teachers could benefit greatly from
understanding more about the impact of gender and biases in their classrooms and so could their
students.
Conclusion
It would be unjust to ignore the tremendous movement towards equality between the
genders that has occurred throughout music history. Music began as a realm exclusively for men,
as did many other things, and has now grown to include women in a variety of ways. There are
still, however, many stereotypes about what roles men and women should play in music even
today. While society tends to think about the restrictions imposed on women, there are also
stereotypical restrictions on men in music, especially in instrument choice. There are no actual
restrictions but due to society’s views on the gendering of instruments, it is difficult for men,
even more than women, to cross gender lines and participate in musical roles generally seen as
being female. As the world continues to progress towards greater equality, it seems hopeful that
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