Gender equality in higher music education: Consecrated and peripheral positions

Abstract

Studies have shown that gender inequality in higher music education is maintained through unreflective actions. Efforts to address the issue have been made and gender-equality programmes have been instigated in several European countries. This study takes a sociological approach to music education, with the goal of revealing constructions of gender inequality in four higher music education institutions in northern, eastern, and central Europe. The aim is to illuminate obstacles to gender-equal education within the field of higher music education. Data was collected through interviews with both students and teachers, with the analysis taking a two-stage structure. The analysis was first performed thematically, and then driven by Connell’s gender theory and Bourdieu’s field theory. The findings are presented as: The objectified body, A natural state of mind, Claming space and Changes in sight. The findings show that gender equality activities seem to increase awareness among both students and staff, but they also show that such awareness does not necessarily lead to changes in practice.

Introduction

Attempts to achieve gender equality in higher music education are slowly and to varying degrees changing traditions in higher music education institutions across Europe (Bull, 2019; Dyndahl et al., 2017). Efforts have been made to gain greater knowledge, among students and staff in several European countries, regarding gender-equality issues related to teaching and learning opportunities. These efforts are encouraged by associations such as the Association Européenne des Conservatoires (AEC) (Guerra et al., 2020). However, a body of gender-related research in music education indicates that, despite significant efforts during the last two decades, inertia is high and change is difficult to achieve (Abeles, 2009; Blix et al., 2021; de Boise, 2019; Ferm Almqvist, 2019a; Zhukov, 2012).

Gender-related music education research in general shows that norms for choices of musical instruments and musical activities are gendered in all kinds of educational contexts in Western countries (Abeles, 2009; Borgström, 2021; Borgström Källén, 2021; Ferm Almqvist, 2019; Onsrud et al., 2021). Research has also revealed male dominance when it comes to the repertoire performed in musical education settings (Citron, 1993; Ramstedt, 2019). Furthermore, previous research has highlighted the exclusion of female composers (Partti and Devaney, 2023) and role models from musical education practices (Abfalter and Reitsamer, 2022; Citron, 1993; Gaunt et al., 2012; Green, 1997; Macarthur, 2014; McClary, 1991). It has also identified gender differences regarding who is attending higher music education (Bull, 2019, 2022; de Boise, 2019), and gendered power relations regarding teachers’ and students’ influence within higher music education (Borgström Källén, 2021a; Ferm Almqvist and Werner, 2023; Gaunt et al., 2012). The field of studies also shows that gender inequality in higher music education is an intricate phenomenon, consisting of multiple layers, and risks being conserved through unconsidered actions. It can be stated that informal recruitment processes, along with a lack of gender-equality competence and awareness within the organisation, lead to unconscious bias mechanisms that influence decisions (Blix et al., 2019). Discretionary power could be exemplified through the instruments that are accessible to and studied by women and men (Hallam et al., 2008), which educational practices and environments are created and available for women versus men, and the kinds of behaviours they encourage (Abeles, 2009; Almqvist, 2020; Borgström Källén, 2021; Borgström and Lindgren, 2018; Herbert et al., 2017). For instance, research has revealed that students are subject to different kinds of treatment based on their gender (Zhukov, 2012), contingent upon the power positions that are assumed and occupied by women versus men (Angelo, 2019; Blix et al., 2019: 14; Borgström, 2021; Borgström Källén, 2021).

Björck (2011) addresses the objectification of female bodies and gendered power relations in music education through the spatial metaphor of claiming space. In her research on female rock band teachers and performers, she shows how women who play in rock bands relate their performances to what she describes as claiming bodily space, sounding space, space in a room, and territorial space. The objectification of the female musician’s body has also been investigated (Green, 1997; McClary, 1991; Rosenberg, 2012). This research has revealed power relations between the subject of the (male) gaze, and the female bodies constructed as objects for that gaze. Green (1997) and Rosenberg (2012) stress that women are always objectified and labelled as female musicians when they perform music.

Traditions and norms about how music is supposed to be studied and performed in higher music education still rest on the shoulders of a Western classical heritage (Scharff, 2015). Although nowadays popular genres, which bring non-classical norms and traditions into higher music education, are a crucial part of many higher music education programmes, the problem of a lack of awareness of gender-equality issues in music teaching and learning is still present. Perhaps this is so because popular music genres, such as rock, techno, hip hop, and country, tend to be taught and performed with a gendered music industry as backdrop (Dyndahl et al., 2017). In both cases, gendered musical norms emanating from unequal musical arenas are inherited and become the model for how music should be taught, learned, and performed (Onsrud et al., 2021).

It becomes clear that the hindrances to gender equality in higher music education constitute a multi-layered phenomenon, which it is important to explore and nuance further. Acquiring deeper insights into such barriers would also influence how future gender-equality efforts and programmes could be designed (cf. de Boise, 2019). In this article, we apply a music education sociological approach, with the aim of examining constructions of gender inequality in four higher music institutions, one each in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, and Sweden. By inequality, we mean the state of not being equal, in status, rights, or opportunities, in this case related to gender, as it is defined within feminist and social justice theories.

Aim and research questions

This paper aims to illuminate obstacles to gender-equal education within the field of higher music education in Europe, and to problematise and discuss the possible impacts and effects of gender-equality activities and programmes. To achieve our aim, the following questions were formulated.

What power relations appear in the field of higher music education in relation to gender?

How is the impact of gender equality activities revealed?

What positions are consecrated and peripheral within the field, and how do they relate to gender equality?

To be able to address the stated aim, we have chosen to analyse material generated from two different studies focusing on gender issues that together cover four European institutions of higher music education, one each in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, and Sweden.

Theory

To theoretically understand the complexity of gender-equality activities in higher music education, we have chosen to connect Raewyn Connell’s gender theory (2009) with parts of Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory (1993, 1996). According to Connell (2009), gender is relational and connected to human bodies. Gender relations hold a unique position among social constructions since these relations play on reproductive differences and are combined with hierarchical dimensions, or gendered power relations. Furthermore, gender is always present in social life and the human body becomes simultaneously both agent and object in gendered social practices; bodies are gendered by the practice of social embodiment (Connell, 2009).

A field implies an autonomous institution, either symbolic or real, employing specialists in certain domains who share specific rules and value hierarchies (Bourdieu, 1988, 1993, 1996). It can be viewed as a game, in which actors compete to attain core positions. Cattani et al. (2014: 258) describe cultural fields as being in a: “constant state of struggle between established and emerging actors who compete for symbolic distinction based on subjective rules of merit, and the vested interests and social objectives these rules embody”. Higher music education has similarities with the characteristics of an autonomous field, but, since previous music education research (Borgström Källén, 2021a; Burnard et al., 2015) has shown that higher music education shares rules and values with the fields of both academia and cultural production, it is viewed as a sub-field in this paper.

Symbolic capital refers to the amount of prestige, reputation for competence, or image of respectability an actor has in a specific field (Bourdieu, 1988, 1996). To obtain symbolic capital, an actor depends on consecration instances, which consist of established hallmarks like musical canons, records, and compositions, showing what counts as prestige. Consecration is about creating and maintaining an aura of admiration and mysticism around an individual or a group of individuals within a specific field. Since authority is required to produce symbolic capital, the role of gatekeepers as agents of consecration is crucial (Bourdieu, 1996).

Established positions and newcomers within a field, have been labelled as insiders and outsiders, orthodox and heretics, incumbents and dissidents, or as core and peripheral actors. In this paper, we use the latter pair for understanding competing and hierarchical positions within the sub-field of higher music education. Cattani et al. (2014) emphasise that core actors are more likely to achieve orthodoxy and defend the reproduction of tradition since their positions rest on symbolic capital embedded within the field. Peripheral actors have not yet gained enough symbolic capital and therefore they are more likely to deviate from the field’s traditions and canons. According to Bourdieu (1993), peripheral actors try to “break the silence of the doxa and call into question the unproblematic, taken-for-granted world of the dominant groups” (Bourdieu, 1993: 83). In other words, the peripheral actor challenges the core of the field.

To explore the hierarchical dimensions of gender relations in the subfield of higher music education, we combine Connell’s concept of gender power relations with peripheral and core positions (Bourdieu). The analysis is further conducted with the assistance of social embodiment (Connell), symbolic capital, and consecration (Bourdieu).

Method

In the study underpinning this paper, leaders, teachers, and students were interviewed at four different higher music education institutions – one each in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, and Sweden. The participants were selected from two separate studies. Both studies focused on gender equality and higher music education, but with different settings and amounts of data. To be able to reveal the obstacles to gender-equal education within the field of higher music education in Europe, we decided to analyse the two different data settings as one set of empirical material.

The first data setting (study 1), conducted by one of the authors of the current article, was performed within non-classical music educational programmes at a higher music education institution in Sweden. Activities such as lectures, workshops, and reflective discussions on gender-equality issues are common within Swedish universities, and study one aimed to gain an increased understanding of teachers’ and students’ experiences of such gender-equality activities in higher music education. Interviews conducted within the framework of study one include 11 students and nine teachers, studying or teaching within different non-classical music programmes. The empirical material consists of six focus group interviews (Dahlin-Ivanoff, 2018), each approximately 2 hours in length. The questions/themes discussed focused on students’ and teachers’ experiences of gender-equality activities at their institution, and on how they perceived their current work and study situations from a gender-equality perspective. The focus group interviews were transcribed verbatim.

The second data setting (study 2) ‘Conservatory Cultures’, conducted by the second author of the current article (Werner and Ferm Almqvist, 2024), aimed to explore gender- and nation-related aspects of higher music education within classical music. It includes three institutions in three different countries, namely Estonia, Hungary, and Finland. During this second study, interviews were conducted in English with 22 leaders/teachers and 23 students studying voice, strings, piano, and percussion. The interviews followed a mind-map enabling the interviewees to choose the order in which they wanted to talk about the different themes: paths towards the university, paths towards the future, teacher–student relations, assessment, connections to society, departmental atmosphere, and equality issues. In this particular study, the aspects of the material concerning gender issues primarily constituted the basis for analysis. The interviews (Kvale and Brinkman, 2009) lasted for about 60–75 min and were transcribed verbatim.

In both studies 1 and 2, information letters were sent out beforehand, and participants were also informed orally about ethical considerations and data-management plans, and their informed consent was recorded. The interviewees knew that participation was confidential, and that they could choose to withdraw from the study, or withdraw parts of the interviews, at any time during the study without any reprisals.

The research material generated was primarily analysed thematically in two steps (Braun and Clark, 2021). Step one was performed individually by the two researchers and included reflexive coding and thematising, with gender equality in mind. This step can be defined as a process of reflection, and a way of interacting with and thinking about the research material, allowing the researchers to simplify it and focus on specific characteristics (Savage, 2000). Step two involved both researchers in cooperative analysis relating the codes to themes, and identifying important sections of text in the empirical material. We searched for shared themes and reviewed them in relation to the material as a whole. Exemplifying quotations were also used (Lorelli et al., 2017). Thereafter, we related the themes to Connell’s concept of gender power relations and Bourdieu’s concepts of consecration and core and peripheral positions, which together constituted a second-level analysis.

The results of the analysis are divided into two parts. In the first part, Findings, the analysis of the material resulted in descriptions based mainly on gender-theoretical concepts. In the second part, Reflective Conclusions, the analysis of the material resulted in interpretations based on both Connell’s and Bourdieu’s concepts.

Findings

In the research material generated from the four universities, traditional gendered choices of instruments are present in all the musical activities described by participants, regardless of geographical or educational context. Specifically, instruments such as the voice, percussion, brass instruments, and the electric guitar are gender marked. When it comes to repertoire, male dominance in the representation is obvious at all four institutions, and the data suggests that compositions by female composers are primarily performed by female students. Thus, the findings are in line with previous research showing that musical instruments and repertoire are gender marked in higher music education in Western countries overall (Abeles, 2009; Borgström and Lindgren, 2018; Ferm Almqvist, 2019; Ramstedt, 2019). In the following, aspects of gender equality are more thoroughly described, divided into the following four themes: The Objectified Body – Musicians and Female Musicians; Claiming Space; A Natural State of Mind; and Changes in Sight.

The Objectified Body – Musicians and Female Musicians

Music education research claims that, historically, male musicians have been defined as musicians, while female musicians have been defined as female musicians since their bodies have been a focus of the male gaze (Ferm Almqvist, 2020; Green, 1997). The power to construct female musicians as an object lies, for example, in the eyes of an audience, a professor of higher music education, a conductor, or a music producer. Green (1997) emphasises that the objectification of women is socially embodied in women’s musicianship, as it is socially embodied in their everyday lives. In the excerpts below, it is shown how the gaze constructs an expectation of the female musician’s body, to appear, dress, sound, or play in certain ways. It also shows how female students and teachers react to being objectified to varying degrees.

For example, in an exam, some male teachers would comment on a female student’s décolleté, which was sort of sleazy. And it felt bad, but nobody said anything. And now, it’s like completely … “Okay, we’re not going to talk about the students’ appearances and we’re not going to give any … do any sexual kind of jokes or anything.” Because even if it’s not meant to degrade the student in any way, it’s meant to be funny. But it’s not usually. It’s not funny. (Female teacher, study 2)

This teacher is describing a change, implicitly described as gender-equality policy for the staff. However, she does not analyse possible causes or power relations. In the next excerpt, a female voice student describes how she experiences the positioning of female singers in her department.

This expectation that you have of the [female] voice, the porcelain female singer, I think it’s associated with the female gender role. It’s completely out of place to take a solo and improvise and kind of freak out or to have an open body language and sit like this [with legs spread] with your microphone. A man who sings may not be treated in the same way. Also, because it’s often that you’re the only woman in the room. I think that’s a big part of it. The only woman with lots of male instrumentalists. If you’re a man, you avoid that feeling of being the only one, being excluded from the male community or the male musician norm. (Female voice student, study 1)

The student in this excerpt from study one describes how gender oppression in her department is caused by gender norms constructed in the wider society. She analyses the objectification of the female body when describing it as full of expectations and strictly positioned and framed with normative femininity, and says that it therefore feels lonely. The excerpt exemplifies how the gaze disciplines female singers in a group where they are objectified as both the only singer and the only female body in the room. In the following excerpt, from study 2, a female student describes how her teacher tries to make women play in a wider and more versatile way. The teacher claims that women play in a specific “feminine” manner.

My teacher somehow focuses on teaching women, because he thinks their range can be more versatile and wider. That’s what I’ve noticed. But he always makes these sexist comments about the fact that women are different when playing, which makes no sense, absolutely no sense. Or that you need to learn the feminine side of playing or something like that. (Female string student, study 2)

This student expresses awareness of her situation, of having to deal with a teacher who comments on women in an objectifying and sexist way. She dismisses her teacher’s advice and says that it makes no sense to her. In the example below, another female student from study two describes a similar situation.

“Give more, be more like … hit us all, man. You’re the only woman here, so be more powerful” or something. One conductor was like this. And then, yeah, if I were a man, would you say that to me? Or is it just because of my body language or how I look, rather than how I play? That’s why he can say that to me. (Female percussion student, study 2)

This student suspects that the teacher is objectifying her, treating her primarily in terms of her appearance and body language, and only secondarily as a musician. She describes experiences in which she was expected to play in a specifically masculine manner, and she is exhorted to perform as a stereotyped male percussionist.

In all the excerpts above, the female bodies are described as something that differs from the norm, something that needs special treatment and specific instructions. From this perspective, all four higher music education institutions show similar findings, and all the female students and teachers verbalised the problem, whether they had been participating in gender-equality activities or not. However, there is a discrepancy between studies one and two in the sense that the students from study one explicitly describe their situation as a structural and societal problem.

A natural state of mind

A common approach among the participants in study 2, but not in study 1, is that gender differences in music education are caused by innate, biological differences between the sexes. Such an ontological standpoint makes gendered power relations between men and women seem natural. From this perspective, unequal opportunities are seen as something that is impossible or unnatural to change. Teachers and students who have affirmed these essentialist beliefs on gender work, willingly or unwillingly, can be seen as gatekeepers for retaining the gendered power relations in higher music education. A common finding observed in the data from study two is that instrument choices are linked to biological gender differences. Both students and teachers argued that larger instruments are played and taught by men due to issues of muscular strength.

I feel, yes, because percussion instruments are heavy, then it’s not so normal, maybe, for a woman to select percussion as a speciality. And still, there are some ideas in mind for many people, that “Oh, if you’re a woman, then you play the piano, or the violin or something like that.” (Male teacher, study 2)

A notion of women being weak and fragile by nature is given as an explanation. Such notions, according to Green (1997), can be traced back in history to the 1800s, when women from the bourgeoisie were constructed as too fragile to play instruments other than the piano and the voice.

Yet another common notion that can play a gatekeeping function in higher music education is the claim by both students and teachers in study two that gender discrimination is a non-existent issue. A view that everything is possible for anyone, independent of gender, was widely expressed. Saying, it is up to the individual student to work hard, and to be determined and talented enough.

Well, I think if somebody is talented, it doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl, so we’re not looking at the genders in the entrance examination and when we put somebody on stage. Only talent counts. Of course, sometimes these days we hear the ironic comment “oh, thank God we have a girl in the programme”, because we know that we can be criticised for not putting a lady in the programme. (Male teacher, study 2)

A lot of women go for choral conducting. Fewer pursue orchestral conducting. But we have several very successful examples of that, and I don’t think there’s a gender bias there. I mean, if not so many women want to do that, I think it’s just because they don’t want to, not because they don’t feel like they could be successful, because we have quite a few successful conductors. So, I don’t think it’s been an issue. (Female teacher, study 2)

The analysis of the first excerpt above shows that gender discrimination is seen as a non-existent problem in the teacher’s practice, but at the same time, it shows an awareness of how people outside his higher music education community receive a concert programme with no females represented. In the second excerpt, the teacher claims that there is no gender bias when it comes to composers and conductors, and she continues by saying that if there is, it is because women are not interested in becoming composers or conductors of orchestras.

Some of the teachers and students in study two talked about gendered power relations in musical relations as still being salient in higher music education, at the same time as they referred to the related gender problems as unavoidable because they are caused by the demands of the labour market. The musicians’ labour market was described as static and beyond opportunities for change. Gender inequality when it comes to work opportunities and a future career as a musician is seen as “natural” or as something that is out of the control of students. Below, a female student describes her view on the gendered conditions of being a classical singer.

As we know, there are female and male voices. We have a hundred million sopranos, for example, high sopranos like me. A little fewer mezzo sopranos and altos. But if you’re a man, in [country] it’s pretty much; you can count on a job in a choir. At least. And if you’re a tenor, then that’s another world. You have a soloist position pretty much when [the moment that] you’re born. (Female student, study 2)

Accordingly, when men are in an underrepresented category, they are perceived as receiving advantages and desirable positions due to their scarcity. The labour market for classical singers is described as a space that is congealed and not as something that it might be possible to influence in the long run through changes in higher music education. To summarise this part, gendered traditions in music education were viewed by the participants as either a natural phenomenon caused by biological differences between the sexes or as issues caused by restricted conditions in the labour market for musicians. In both cases, gender inequality is regarded as inherent and something that students must recognise if they wish to pursue music studies.

Claiming space

Claiming space, through room, body, territory, and sound, as a way of constructing power in musical practices has been discussed in previous research (Björck, 2011). The findings of the current study show that only participants from study 1, a higher music education institution who had been frequently engaged in gender-equality activities used concepts relating to space when talking about gender inequality. Participants from this specific setting explicitly used space as a way of understanding gendered power relations.

Some of the female interviewees in study 1 said that the professors had offered them space both in terms of a physical room and social territory, but the students suspected that the underlying reason for this offer was to be able to claim a gender-equal representation. Thus, the students expressed suspicion that they were being admitted to the education based on their sex, and not because of their musical skills.

I thought about claiming space as a female. When I applied to [this] popular music [course], only two female instrumentalists were applying. The rest were male. And then I passed the exam and I suspect that maybe it was because I was one of only two females who applied. And that insecurity takes away the feeling that “maybe I played well”. (Female piano student, study 1)

Another piano student from the same institution explained that she has had the impetus to claim space continually throughout her education, even more than she has been comfortable with, just to show “that it doesn’t matter that you’re a girl”. This shows that she is aware of how space could be used to gain access to her musical body, to a music room, to sound, and to claim expertise through a musical territory (musical style or genre).

A male saxophone player from study one reflected upon the balance between the “fact” that women typically play small and quiet instruments, in contrast to men who play large and loud instruments, and the musical conventions within a specific genre. He argued that there is a clash between gender equality and claiming space with sound because women often play instruments that produce soft and quiet sounds. A student in the same ensemble group responded:

There’s an attitude around [female] singing; it must be nice. It’s probably that porcelain doll kind of thing. If you compare a saxophone solo to a scat solo, I often find that a saxophonist gets a lot more space to play it out. Making strange sounds and throwing themselves up on harmonics. That there may be a difference in the approach. When a vocal solo comes along, it’s a bit like sweet thirds. A different thing. (Male student, study 1)

The students described how the female voice, as an instrument, is othered, perceived as fragile, and comes with expectations of sounding sweet and nice. The differences between the saxophone and the voice as solo instruments were also described as obvious when it comes to claiming space with sound. Moreover, the claiming of space, with instruments that are expected to be quiet and shaped, is even seen as diminishing musical quality, which further complicates the issue of othering the voice as an instrument.

However, sometimes, the male students in Study one recognised their behaviour as gender blind. One student described his performance as being as though he never noticed the female singers.

I find that I haven’t listened in that direction [towards the female singer] in the room at all, instead it becomes a directed focus [towards other instrumentalists]. I hope somehow that I will become more aware of this. That I can change, or not even have to change, listening to everyone. (Male double bass student, study1)

The male student in the excerpt above is becoming aware that he serves as a gatekeeper, perpetuating power relations that marginalise female singers. One aspect of space-claiming, mentioned by the participants, is self-confidence, something that female participants in study one suggested they lack but need to gain in order to express themselves musically. It also becomes clear that the interrelation with the voice as a specific gendered instrument seems to strengthen the demands to claim space.

In the example below, a female voice teacher from study one describes how her female students are questioned if they claim space with their voice expertise, since they are seen by peers and teachers as performing something that everybody can achieve without practising.

In the popular music genre, it’s “but everyone can sing” and “everyone should sing”. So, I feel that the students who have the voice as their main subject get demoted. I struggle to retain the status for them. Like, this is something that they work with every day, and have expertise in, compared to when everyone else sings. It’s easy for the voice to have a lower status if “everyone can”. (Female voice teacher, study 1)

The teacher in this quotation stressed that positioning female singers as having less expertise equates to constructing women as lacking knowledge. This can be interpreted as a dual subordination because a student or a teacher is oppressed both by the choice of the voice as an instrument and due to being female.

This dual subordination also pervades teachers’ collegial situations. Voice teachers who participated in study one described their experiences of being laughed at, diminished, and silenced by male instrumentalists when offering their expertise on vocal matters during collegial discussions. Even though all their male colleagues had been part of gender-equality activities, it becomes clear that they lacked awareness of the consequences of their behaviour.

The excerpt below is an example from study two illustrating how gender matters in situations where space could be claimed from all the perspectives described. However, this student did not seem to have access to the concept in order to describe her situation. She describes the importance of being promoted by a “powerful professor”, a highly ranked teacher who has the influence to facilitate space for selected students.

And as for the pianists, the younger ones, there are usually more male students playing in concerts. I don’t know whether it’s because they’re really good or because they’re favoured. Because there’s always this thing that it depends on your professor. If you’re studying under a powerful professor, who’s high up in the food chain, then you’re more likely to get more concerts or offers and opportunities. (Female piano student, study 2)

This student concluded by stating that she did not anticipate being given space by male students who have access to it, or from professors who have the power to decide who to promote. To summarise this section, the data suggests that male teachers and students have access to all four aspects of space to a greater extent than female teachers and students. It also shows that participants in study one are using the concept of claiming space to describe gendered power relations, while participants in study two are not.

Changes in sight?

When it comes to visions among the participants about how to achieve gender equality within higher music education, it seems that they perceive becoming aware of, and problematising, inequalities as the core issue. One motive mentioned for directing effort towards awareness is that unreflected norms and structures have become established across generations of musicians and are intertwined with educational behaviours in higher music education. The interviewees supposed that changing norms in higher music education is challenging, and therefore even small steps towards gender equality are recognised as progress. A female teacher from study two suggested that border-crossing discussions regarding gender-related behaviours are something that is constantly needed. A female from study 1, studying voice, suggested that educational leaders should provide guidelines for teachers to meet colleagues and discuss how they are choosing their repertoire. Another possibility, suggested by a female teacher from study 2, is to refrain from labelling women as “female composers” and “female conductors”. The challenge, she says in this quote, seems to be the power relations that are connected to traditions and values in musical life, where women are underrepresented as composers and conductors.

But, in general, in the musical world, especially when there are issues like gender or other inequalities, it’s less a concern for the interpreters and more for the conductors and composers. Where maybe there’s also more kind of authority or finances, that are considered … have been considered for a very long time as a kind of male dominance. And that’s not available to women. (Female teacher, study 2)

The most engaged student interviewees would like to see radical changes in practice, and students who have gained knowledge about gender inequality in music education want to educate their teachers. One student from study 1 suggested that teachers could take the opportunity to learn from each other.

The teachers could learn from each other. It sometimes feels like students talk more about this problem than the teachers do. For example, we have a course with [teacher], where we talk about, among other things, gender in music practice, and then later the very same day, we have a class with a teacher who doesn’t seem to recognise the problem or know how to handle it. (Male bass guitar student, study 1)

Some of the participating teachers described organising interventions or arrangements that aim to develop gender awareness among the staff as challenging.

We had a seminar in January for our teachers. I asked a psychologist from outside [the faculty] to come and discuss these questions with our teachers because many of them just don’t even realise what’s going on, and then they become afraid of opening their mouths at all, because they feel that “everything I say is wrong”. (Female teacher, study 2)

The excerpt shows that even when leaders at the institutions are aware of the need for gender equality work, and organize seminars, in some cases their colleagues become afraid of talking about gender, afraid of expressing themselves wrongly.

To summarize this section, the participants perceive becoming aware of, and problematising, gender inequalities in higher music education as the core issue for changing gendered power relations and they recognize even small steps towards gender equality as progress.

Reflective conclusions

Overall, the findings show that gendered power relations are present at all four institutions examined in this study, regardless of whether they had conducted gender-equality activities or not. However, the descriptions of how gender inequality is expressed differ, and awareness regarding gender as grounds for discrimination varies. This implies that gender-equality activities have had an impact on how the teachers and students talk about inequality and how they imagine that gender equality can be achieved, but the analysis also shows that such knowledge does not necessarily imply change in higher music education practice.

When problematising gender equality in music performances and music education from a Bourdieusian perspective, the students and teachers in this study can be seen as either peripheral or core actors in the subfield of higher music education. Our findings suggest that the higher music education institutions involved are still governed by consecrated core (male) actors, such as masterclass professors and orchestral conductors. Core positions have access to consecrated instances that are valued as symbolic capital by the gatekeepers positioned close to the core actors. Consecrated instances, or hallmarks, such as prestigious concert performances, highly ranked compositions, and CD recordings, are more often than not possessed by men in this study, confirming earlier findings within the area (Abfalter and Reitsamer, 2022; Bull, 2019; Citron, 1993; de Boise, 2019; Gaunt et al., 2012; Macarthur, 2014; McClary, 1991; Partti and Devaney, 2023).

We have identified a need to problematise expectations related to accepted behaviours among teachers and students. The performing soloist male genius is still a role model, explicitly or implicitly consecrated and positioned at the core by stakeholders in the subfield of higher music education, while common growth and so-called academic housekeeping (Borgström Källén, 2021a), often organised by female teachers, is seen as less valued and positioned as peripheral. Discussing such holdings could be one way to grasp gender inequality and, in the longer term, contribute to change.

However, we have shown that students and teachers in study 1, where the participants had taken part in lectures, workshops, and focus groups on gender equality, are less likely to act as gatekeepers to consecrated male professors. The analysis shows that they are questioning their professors as having too much influence and impact. Thus, gender-equality activities seem to have helped these students and teachers to relate and become aware of how traditions of the male genius, which are historically connected to higher music education institutions (Green, 1997; McClary, 1991; Partti and Devaney, 2023), still have an impact on their education. However, they regard these traditions as representing old-fashioned values and an outdated way of teaching.

In study 2, the institutions, which have not taken part in gender-equality activities to the same extent, celebrated male teachers, professors in instrumental or vocal masterclasses, and orchestral conductors, who are often protected and consecrated by both male and female teachers and students. The findings suggest that the gatekeepers in study two construct male professors as naturally talented and excellent, and therefore unquestionably qualified for consecrated positions.

The differences between study one and study 2, in terms of how students and staff talked about a lack of gender equality in their daily practice, were not primarily about whether women were discriminated against or not; rather, the differences concerned how the participants verbalised and conceptualised the problem. In study 1, the participants displayed a more informed understanding when it came to conceptualising gender discrimination analytically. For example, they used concepts connected to theories on spatiality when describing a lack of influence. Thus, concepts like claiming space with the body, sound, and territory (Björck, 2011) were used to show how core positions in the field were protected and how peripheral positions were controlled. In study 2, the participants described experiences of gender inequality, but lacked concepts for analysing their situation.

To conclude, staff and students who have taken part in gender-equality activities seem to have been trained in how to describe and analyse their situation. However, this is not to be equated with the emergence of less hierarchical power relations or a less gender-divided workforce. Problems still exist, even when the staff and students who have developed insights into gender-equality work seem to be better informed. Activities on gender equality in music education seem thus far to have influenced the ability to conceptualise and express gender discrimination, since it has an impact on people’s awareness of the problem. However, it would be simplifying the discussion to claim that this leads to changes in practice or to a gender-equal higher music education. Having a language for expressing unequal gender conditions may be a first and crucial step towards change, but if we want to educate musicians and music teachers who are not only aware and informed, but also prepared to make changes in practice, we must educate teachers and leaders on how to proceed from words to action. This is a challenge for higher music education institutions, where everyday practice and gendered music traditions are intertwined.