Marginalized Voices in Music Education by Brent C. Talbot

Author:Brent C. Talbot
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

Female Band Directors

Female band directors are severely underrepresented in higher education and secondary instrumental music positions (Sheldon & Hartley, 2012). As of 2001, women comprised only 20 percent of the total population of band directors in higher education and less than 25 percent of the high school band director population in the United States (“Gender Trends among MENC Music Educators,” 2001). The military history of bands and academic and professional politics in the form of the “old boy” network of male conductors and students have made it difficult for women to enter and thrive in the band-directing profession (Fiske, 1997). Discriminatory hiring practices, lack of role models, isolation within the field, the work/family balance, expectations of traditionally masculine behavior, and the belief that women are incapable of handling a band director job because of discipline problems and classroom management issues that might arise have all been cited as reasons for the lack of female band directors at collegiate and secondary levels (Feather, 1980; Fitzpatrick, 2013; Gould, 1996; Gould, 2005; Grant, 2000; Greaves-Spurgeon, 1998; Jackson, 1996; Sears, 2010).

The presence of female high school band directors conflicts with historically constructed gender roles in secondary instrumental music education (Green, 1997). As a result, women in the field must negotiate the complexities and challenges of working in a male-dominated profession. While much of the existing literature on female band directors has identified the militaristic history of the profession, discrimination (limited opportunity because of gender), isolation (exclusion because of gender), and stereotyping (assumptions about ability based on gender) as barriers that female band directors experience, few studies have examined how women in high school band director positions perceive and engage with these dynamics. By examining how female band directors engage with and navigate the complexities associated with working in the traditionally masculine field of secondary instrumental music education, we may better understand how socially constructed gender roles impact female band director identity both in the classroom and in the larger professional community. Such an understanding may help to name and challenge masculine power structures that continue to serve as barriers to women in music education. According to Savigny, “Feminism as praxis enables women to ‘speak out’ and have their voices heard, and in so doing question existing structures of power. This in turn provides a mechanism through which change and agency are possible” (2014, p. 806). In the spirit of “speaking out,” the purpose of this instrumental case study is to examine how Cathy engages with and perceives issues of isolation, stereotyping, and marginalization in the traditionally masculine profession of secondary instrumental music education and to explore the effect of these perceptions on her personal and professional identities. It is my hope that Cathy’s story creates space for “other” women to speak and be heard so that masculine power structures in instrumental music education can be named, challenged, and transformed.

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