Instrument Selection and Gender Stereotypes

Abstract

Choice of instrument is among the most important factors in determining the course of a student's music education. Instrument selection can be a lengthy process accomplished through a variety of factors. The stereotyping of instruments by gender can, unfortunately, be one of those factors. The association of gender with particular instruments can significantly influence a student in choosing an instrument, thereby resulting in numerous negative consequences— including fewer instrument choices, limited ensemble participation, and peer disapproval. The purpose of this literature review is to examine recent scholarship on this issue and make recommendations for future investigation and possible interventions. By examining post-1996 literature, this article demonstrates that this issue still affects music education; it discusses recent aspects of the issue; and it proposes areas for further inquiry.

Groove in drum patterns as a function of both rhythmic properties and listeners’ attitudes

“…The selection of drummers showed extreme gender bias: only one female drummer was mentioned multiple times in any of the lists (Sheila E., best known for her work with Prince), but her name was mentioned less than five times, so she was not included in the final list. The male predominance in the sample is likely to be connected to an instrument selection bias (boys are much more likely to pick up the drums than girls), deeply rooted in Western society [ 92 – 94 ].…”

“…The composition of the participants group shows considerable self-selecting sample bias [ 98 , 99 ] with respect to two characteristics: male participants and people with high musical competence are overrepresented in the sample, compared to a general central European population. The high proportion of male subjects may again be traced back to gender bias in music education and practice: the drum set is predominantly played by male musicians and music students [ 92 – 94 ], so men could be expected to be more interested in the survey than women. The high proportion of musically competent subjects is most probably associated with two recruitment-related circumstances: firstly, e-mail-based recruitment was focused on academic institutions dedicated to music performance or research (music departments, conservatoires).…”

Young people's topography of musical functions: Personal, social and cultural experiences with music across genders and six societies

“…However, it is unclear whether the empirical structure of our new instrument recovers the qualitatively derived dimensions. Therefore, we conducted an initial principal component analysis (PCA) on the pooled within‐groups correlation matrix (adjusting for unequal samples sizes; Fischer & Fontaine, 2011). We rotated the pooled factor solution with Varimax rotation in order to identify independent functions of music.…”

“…Structural equivalence was investigated by applying procrustean target rotation (for details see Fischer & Fontaine, 2011; van de Vijver & Leung, 1997). Tucker's phi is an agreement coefficient that was examined as a statistical indicator of factor similarity (Tucker's phi above 0.85 indicates satisfactory similarity of factor structures; Fischer & Fontaine, 2011). Then the mental representation of the underlying dimensions of music functions was investigated with multidimensional scaling (MDS).…”

Exploring equal opportunities: Children’s experiences of the Swedish Community School of Music and Arts

“…In a survey of the UK Local Authorities Music Services, Hallam, Rogers, and Creech (2005) found a predominance of girls, especially at the lower levels. When it comes to choice of musical instrument, the gender stereotypes become obvious, with a predominance of girls on the flute and clarinet, and boys playing brass instruments and percussion (Eros, 2008; Hallam et al, 2005; Hallam, Rogers, & Creech, 2008; MacLeod, 2009; Marshall & Shibazaki, 2011; Sheldon & Price, 2005; Taylor, 2009; Wrape, Dittloff, & Callahan, 2014; Wych, 2012). Changes over time in instrument choices and their gender associations have proven to be modest (Abeles, 2009).…”