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What gender mostly plays the clarinet?

Females may be drawn to the flute more than males simply because they are more naturally attracted to the sound of the flute. Conversely, males may be drawn more naturally to the drums than are females simply because drums are louder. ... Clarinet (any) # Female 28 % Female 38.9% # Male 1 % Male 1.6% 12 more columns •

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by Dr. Michael Pratt

Introduction

Since numerous studies have documented gender bias of instruments in instrument selection for band students, the question arises is this a genuine bias or simply coincidental in conforming to the natural differences between the genders? Also, is this gender bias reflected in the dropout rate of band students?

Merriam-Webster defines bias as both “an inclination of temperament or outlook” and “a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment.” [1] Most of the numerous studies documenting gender bias and sex-stereotyping as it relates to instrument selection by band students tend to use the later definition. They sometimes characterize this bias as something which has been planted by an outside force. For example, Abeles and Porter (1978) state “the design and results of this study also suggest. . .that parents may influence their children to choose certain instruments, depending on the sex of the child.” This research study shows that a significant reason for explaining this documented gender bias is more related to Merriam-Webster’s first definition than the second; i.e. the gender bias is more related to an inclination of temperament or outlook, more related to the simple differences between the genders which are completely natural. Numerous studies have documented gender bias and sex-stereotyping of instruments in instrument selection for band students beginning with Abeles and Porter (1978). Other studies have followed including Griswold and Chroback (1982), Delzell and Leppla (1992), Fortney, Boyle and DeCarbo (1993), Harrison and O’Neill (2000, 2003), and Bayley, Kuhlman, and Walker (2004). Many of these studies have negative connotations. For example, Abeles and Porter (1978) begins with the statement “The association of gender with musical instruments can, as can stereotyping of any type, serve to constrict the behavior and thus the opportunities of individuals.” On the surface this is a reasonable statement and the goal to affect a change in behavior is a reasonable goal. However, this is only true if the documented gender bias is an unreasonable bias whose intent (conscious or unconscious) is to “pigeon-hole” student behavior into categories which conform to societal categories which are unreasonable and which are potentially harmful to the students (e.g. the common gender bias that males are better at math and science than females). Certainly such biases and behaviors do exist and need to be pointed out and corrected. However, it may be that not all behavior which is gender associated is in need of correction. Some of this behavior may simply be a natural reflection of the differences between the sexes. Females may be drawn to the flute more than males simply because they are more naturally attracted to the sound of the flute. Conversely, males may be drawn more naturally to the drums than are females simply because drums are louder. Both examples may simply be the result of natural phenomenon. A common goal in education today is to eradicate bias and discrimination and to level the playing field for everyone (witness such phenomena as Title IX and Affirmative Action). Common sense tells us, however, that there may be some issues which can be explained by simply describing natural phenomena and basic human nature. It is possible that gender bias and sex-stereotyping of instruments when band students make their choice of instrument may fall more into the natural phenomenon category and less into the bigoted and stereotyped category which should be challenged and corrected. Gender Bias is defined as males being prejudiced against what they view as female instruments and females being prejudiced against what they view as male instruments. Instrument Stereotyping is defined as the viewing of the various musical instruments as either masculine or feminine – the typically viewed masculine instruments being drums, brass and saxophones and the typically viewed feminine instruments as being flute and clarinet

Literature Review

If existing literature on gender bias and sex-stereotyping of musical instruments is examined in chronological order it can be seen how attitudes have changed over the years as society’s attitudes towards feminism and gender issues have grown and changed. The first major study was done in 1978 by Harold Abeles of Indiana University and Susan Porter of Wilmington, Delaware Public Schools. In their study they say “The sex-stereotyping of musical instruments tends to limit the range of experience available to men and women, including participation in instrumental ensembles.” They go on in their study to cite instances of marching bands at Purdue, Notre Dame, and Michigan State University which had extremely low percentages of women members, specifically stating that this is “the result of the association of gender with instruments.” This is an erroneous statement. The University of Michigan Marching Band (contemporary to the above-named in time and type) was one hundred percent male at that time, not because of any issues regarding gender bias in the selection of instruments, but simply because it was thought to be inappropriate to have a co-ed band which toured together by bus and train: there was too much opportunity for improper behavior. The solution was to restrict the ensemble to male membership only (this was before the days of equal access for women). The same net result could have been achieved by restricting membership to an all female membership, although that was not the case at these major universities because it was also a common misperception at that time that females did not have the physical stamina necessary to participate in a major college marching band. This practice did not change until feminism issues became important and women became more empowered. Thus even though Abeles and Porter were able to document statistically a gender bias in instrument selection, their conclusions regarding this bias were incorrect. [2] Griswold and Chroback (1981) asked 89 college students (including 40 music majors) to use a Likert scale and rate each instrument’s masculinity or femininity. The most feminine instrument was the harp, followed by flute, piccolo, glockenspiel, choral conductor, cello, violin, clarinet, piano, French horn, and oboe with tuba being the most masculine instrument, followed by string bass, trumpet, bass drum, saxophone, instrumental conductor, cymbal, and guitar. Delzell and Leppla (1992) discovered that females tend to choose a wider variety of instruments than males do and that the quality of sound was the primary reason given for choosing a particular instrument rather than whether or not they were girl’s instruments or boy’s instruments. By this time women’s rights and feminism issues had come to the forefront and gender issues were looked at less in black and white categories, like the 1970s, and in more rich detail. Jonathan Bayley (2004) concluded that even though gender bias can still be documented in instrument selection, the predominant influencing factor in the selection of an instrument by a student is the method by which the teacher presents the instruments to the student and the time of the year in which the selection occurs. Most of the studies have taken a different focus to explain the gender bias in instrument selection by band students and each has shown that statistically the bias did and still does exist, but none are conclusive as to the reason for this gender bias, each showing a different possibility for the reason(s). One recent study tends to support the hypothesis of this study (i.e. girls are more often drawn naturally to smaller and higher pitched instruments while boys are more often drawn naturally to larger and lower pitched instruments; having little to do with gender bias but rather with simple natural tendencies). Wai-chung Ho (2001) studied gender bias in instrument selection in a Chinese culture in Hong Kong. In his study Ho states “The ideology of feminine inequality that considers women by nature to be inferior to men and subordinate to men, has been inherent in Chinese communities for many centuries.” This would seem to give rise to a gender bias in musical instruments as something which is natural, common, and expected as a normal part of this culture. And yet Ho finds “this study did not indicate that social and cultural norms and values perpetuated boys’ and girls’ stereotyped beliefs.” At the same time the results of his findings also showed “boys usually took up bigger Western instruments such as trombone, tuba, trumpet, and bassoon.”

Method

Two surveys were used to gather data for this research study. The first survey gathered data relevant to the question “Since numerous studies have documented gender bias of instruments in instrument selection for band students, the question arises is this a genuine bias or simply coincidental in conforming to the natural differences between the genders?” The second survey gathered data relevant to the question “Is this gender bias reflected in the dropout rate of band students?”

Participants

The first online survey was administered to a convenience sample consisting of four bands at Sand Creek Community Schools, Sand Creek, Michigan (5th grade band, 6th grade band, middle school band, and high school band), and college age band members from Adrian (Michigan) College. The participants (N=133) consisted of 72 females and 61 males. The second online survey was administered to 14 band directors in the local Lenawee County Band Directors Association (LCBDA). The directors were asked to provide the numbers of students by gender and by instrument that were in their band(s) last year and are not in their band(s) this year (not counting students who graduated, moved, or simply changed instruments). The survey resulted in documenting 140 dropouts (70 female and 70 male).

Instruments

The first survey consisted of questions categorized as follows:

Demographic Instrument Grade Gender

Instrument Preferences by Generality Smaller or Larger Instruments Softer or Louder Instruments

Specific Instrument Preferences Flute or Drums Clarinet or Trumpet Flute or Trombone

Attitudes on Gender Association of Instruments Are Some Instruments Boy’s Instruments? Do Girls Tend to Play Girl’s Instruments? Should Boys Play Boy’s Instruments Only?

What Influences Did You Have on Selecting Your Instrument?

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The second survey was very simple:

How many students are not in your band this year that were in your band last year by instrument and gender not counting students who graduated or simply moved?

Results

Table 1 – What Is Your Instrument?

# Female % Female # Male % Male # Total % Total % Female % Male Flute/Piccolo 17 23.6% 1 1.6% 18 13.5% 94% 6% Oboe 1 1.4% 0 0% 1 .75% 100% 0% Bassoon 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0% 0% Clarinet (any) 28 38.9% 1 1.6% 29 21.8% 97% 3% Saxophone (any) 8 11.1% 9 14.5% 17 12.8% 47.1% 52.9% Trumpet/Cornet 12 16.7% 21 33.9% 33 24.8% 36% 64% Horn 0 0% 2 3.2% 2 1.5% 0% 100% Trombone 0 0% 3 4.8% 3 2.25% 0% 100% Baritone/Euphonium 0 0% 2 3.2% 2 1.5% 0% 100% Tuba 0 0% 4 6.4% 4 3% 0% 100% Percussion/Drums 4 5.6% 14 22.6% 18 10.5% 22% 78% Other 2 2.8% 4 6.4% 6 4.5% 33.3% 66.6% Total 72 61 133 The results of question one of the Band Instrument Survey (Table 1 above) show females heavily favoring flute and clarinet with a female mean average of 95.5% playing those instruments as opposed to a male mean average 4.5% playing the same instruments. Similarly, males heavily favor brass and percussion instruments with a male mean average of 90.33% playing those instruments as opposed to a female mean average of 9.66% playing the same instruments. Females select flute and clarinet over males 21.2 to 1. Males select brass and percussion over females 9.35 to 1. Saxophones are split close to even with females at 47.1% and males at 52.9%. Males show a lack of preference for flute and clarinet with only 2 male players (4%) as opposed to 45 female players (96%). A lack of preference is shown by female players for brass and percussion but particularly for horn and low brass, of which 100% of the players are male. A lesser bias was shown towards trumpet and percussion with 16 females (31%) and 35 males (69%) playing those instruments. Table 2 – How Do You Feel About the Following Instruments? – Female Responses Table 3 – How Do You Feel About the Following Instruments? – Male Responses Tables 2 and 3 above represent raw numbers on a Likert scale question asking how the respondents feel about the various instruments. The numbers in general tend to follow the same pattern of female and male preference documented above but allow for more gradation of preference. For example, notice how among 67 females concerning the flute, they were almost evenly divided between Love It, Like It a Little, and Its ok. As a group they were for the flute 67 to 5 but evenly divided from Love It to Its ok. Males on the other hand Disliked It a Little or Hated It only 18 out of 61 with more than half stating Its ok or No Opinion. In general, the numbers show a remarkable tolerance for all of the instruments by both genders as the next graph of mean scores (Table 4 below) shows. Table 4 above shows a mean average compilation score from Tables 2 and 3. Notice how remarkably even the scores are from instrument to instrument and by gender. The mean score on the graph above (i.e. the mean score of mean scores) is 3.0 for females and 2.8 for males. In other words, both genders and all instruments average out to ‘Its ok’. The next two questions show instrument preference in general terms (e.g. do you prefer smaller instruments or larger instruments, softer instruments or louder instruments?)

Table 5

Table 5 above demonstrates that nearly half (48.9%) of both females and males have no opinion of preference between smaller or larger instruments. Of the rest, males are split approximately equally between smaller and larger instruments while females prefer smaller to larger instruments approximately 4 to1. Most of the ‘other’ responses specified either ‘medium instruments’ or ‘it doesn’t matter’.

Table 6

Table 6 above shows that 43% of females have no opinion of preference between softer and louder instruments. The remaining females show a preference split evenly between softer and louder instruments with 6% selecting other (mostly ‘it doesn’t matter’ or ‘a little bit of both’). The standout answer to this question is that males prefer louder instruments (49%) to softer instruments (7%) with 44% showing either no opinion or other. In other words, males who showed a preference showed a preference for louder instruments to softer instruments of 7 to 1. The next questions show instrument preference in specific terms for five pairs of instruments: flute and drums, clarinet and tuba, flute and trombone, trumpet and clarinet, and trumpet and flute. Table 8 below puts the graph in Table 7 below in terms of percentages.

Table 7 – ‘Which Do You Prefer?’ by Raw Numbers

Table 8 – ‘Which Do You Prefer?’ by Percentages

Female % of Females Male % of Males Female % of Females Male % of Males Flute 61% 10% Trumpet 32% 76% Drums 35% 77% Clarinet 63% 8% No Preference 4% 13% No Preference 5% 16% Clarinet 84% 25% Trumpet 36% 75% Tuba 8% 46% Flute 54% 7% No Preference 8% 29% No Preference 10% 18% Flute 84% 16% Trombone 8% 59% No Preference 8% 25% In the preference between flute and drums, females selected flute over drums slightly less than 2 to 1 and selected flute 6 to 1 over males. Males selected drums over flute greater than 7 to 1 and selected drums slightly less than 2 to 1 over females. In the preference between clarinet and tuba, females selected clarinet over tuba greater than 10 to 1 and selected clarinet greater than 3 to 1 over males. Males selected tuba over clarinet slightly less than 2 to 1 and selected tuba more than 5 to 1 over females. Similar results were obtained between flute and trombone, trumpet and clarinet, and trumpet and flute. There was no noticeable difference in results depending on which instrument was presented first. It was also shown that females showed no preference for a mean average of 7% of the time while males showed no preference for a mean average of 20% of the time.

Table 9 – Percentage responses to gender bias questions

Females % Yes Females % No Females % Don’t Know Males % Yes Males % No Males % Don’t Know Are Certain Instruments Girl’s Instruments? 46% 47% 7% 46% 46% 8% Are Certain Instruments Boy’s Instruments? 36% 56% 8% 44% 48% 8% Do Girls Tend to Play Girl’s Instruments? 65% 25% 10% 54% 26% 20% Do Boys Tend to Play Boy’s Instruments? 60% 25% 15% 62% 20% 18% Should Girls Play Girl’s Instrument Only? 7% 85% 8% 10% 75% 15% Should Boys Play Boy’s Instrument Only? 10% 82% 8% 3% 77% 20% On the question of whether certain instruments are girl’s instruments and whether certain instruments are boy’s instruments the genders are nearly equally divided. On the question of whether girls tend to play girl’s instruments and boys tend to play boy’s instruments the genders agree on YES to both questions by more than 2 to 1. On the question of whether girl’s should play only girl’s instruments and boys should play only boy’s instruments the genders agree on NO by an overwhelming margin of greater than 7 to 1.

Table 10 – What was the most important influence on your instrument selection?

While not specifically related to the question of gender bias, the results to the question shown in Table 10 above provide interesting insight into the instrument selection process of individuals. It would make an interesting study to explore further this question of influence on instrument selection. Other studies have placed the sound of the instrument as the most important influence (Delzell and Leppla, 1992) while the results shown on this graph set the greatest influence on the parents. The results of the second survey of Band Director Dropout Rate by instrument and gender (as shown in Table 11 below) produced remarkably even results between the genders and from instrument to instrument as well.

Table 11

Discussion

As shown in Table 12 below there is a positive relationship between the number of female players on the various instruments and the number of females who expressed ‘Love It’ for the various instruments as shown by a correlation coefficient of 0.900839 (which can be described as a very strong direct relationship). Conversely there is a negative relationship between the number of female players on the various instruments and the number of females who expressed ‘Hate It’ for the various instruments as shown by a correlation coefficient of -0.45623 (which can be described as a moderately strong inverse relationship). A similar relationship exists for the males. [3] Table 12 – Relationship of number of players for each instrument by gender to number of players for each instrument by gender who replied ‘Love it’ and ‘Hate It’ to the question ‘How do you feel about the following instruments?’. The chart also shows a correlation coefficient for each column of data (related to the number of players by gender). # of Female Players # of Females who ‘Love It’ # of Females who ‘Hate It’ # of Male Players # of Males who ‘Love It’ # of Males who ‘Hate It’ Flute/Piccolo 17 23 1 1 4 10 Oboe 1 16 3 0 2 13 Bassoon 0 11 5 0 5 5 Clarinet (any) 28 32 4 1 1 10 Saxophone (any) 8 22 1 9 17 4 Trumpet/Cornet 12 19 8 21 29 2 Horn 0 10 7 2 14 4 Trombone 0 3 26 3 17 5 Baritone/Euphonium 0 1 17 2 6 6 Tuba 0 3 21 4 11 7 Percussion/Drums (any) 4 23 1 14 24 6 Correlation Coefficient 0.900839 -0.45623 Correlation Coefficient 0.900839 -0.5851 The fact that there is such a strong direct correlation between the instruments that the students actually choose to play and the instruments that they love (and conversely a moderately strong negative correlation between the instruments they actually choose to play and the instruments that they hate) indicates that the gender bias documented by this and other studies could be the result of natural instincts and preferences by gender rather than the result of a societal bias which tries to place a sex-stereotype on the various instruments and encourage students to choose an instrument whose sex-stereotype matches the student’s own gender.

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The natural preference of males for louder rather than softer instruments exhibits itself in almost exactly the same proportion of preference for drums over flute. Females, on the other hand, prefer smaller to larger instruments by a smaller proportion and softer to louder instruments almost evenly while at the same time preferring flute over drum by less than 2 to 1. This could indicate that while females exhibit a preference for the smaller, softer instruments like the flute, they are not nearly as strong as males in their preferences, exhibiting a more even distribution across the ’Love It’ to ‘Hate It’ spectrum and from instrument to instrument.

Table 13 – Comparison of Instrument Preferences With Attitude of Instrument Gender

Female ‘Love It’ Female’s Said Girl’s Instrument Female’s Said Boy’s Instrument Male ‘Love It’ Male’s Said Girl’s Instrument Male’s Said Boy’s Instrument Flute/Piccolo 23 40 0 4 34 1 Oboe 16 22 1 2 31 1 Bassoon 11 6 8 5 14 4 Clarinet (any) 32 29 0 1 28 1 Saxophone (any) 22 2 4 17 1 9 Trumpet / Cornet 19 1 21 29 1 17 Horn 10 2 25 14 3 13 Trombone 3 2 39 17 3 31 Baritone / Euphonium 1 0 28 6 1 22 Tuba 3 1 44 11 2 30 Percussion / Drums (any) 23 3 12 24 2 9 Correlation Coefficient 0.593747 -0.67206 Correlation Coefficient -0.72674 0.413971 In Table 13 above there is a strong positive, or direct relationship between the instruments females ‘love’ and the instruments they describe as girl’s instruments. Conversely there is a strong negative, or inverse relationship with the instruments they ‘love’ and the instruments they describe as boy’s instruments. The exact same relationship exists in males (with results the opposite of females) with males feeling stronger about girl’s instruments than did females and less strong about boy’s instruments than did females. The fact that there is a direct correlation between instrument preferences and attitudes about instruments by gender continues to bolster the argument that the so-called gender bias is not a bias at all but rather simply a reflection of the natural differences between the genders in their preferences concerning instruments. It has been stated by other studies that students are influenced by their parents and their peers (and possibly by society in general) to select instruments which match their gender regardless of their preferences, in other words to exhibit a true gender bias towards instrument selection. This study shows that even while parents remain the strongest influence over students on their choice of instrument, the students still respond in proportion to their natural preferences for the instruments (this is reinforced by the sound of the instrument being the second strongest influence on the student for instrument choice). If students were feeling pressure from outside sources (parents, friends, society) to select or not select certain instruments, this should be reflected in the instrument drop out rate. Either a student would feel pressure to drop out because he is the only boy flute player (for example) or she might strong willed enough to continue even though she is the only girl tuba player (for example). Neither seems to be the case. According to the data there is no correlation between gender, instruments, and dropout rate. Like previous results this reinforces the hypothesis that all of this is simply the result of natural tendencies and not of any exhibited biases.

Conclusions

The expectations were that this study would show that females preferred smaller and softer instruments while males preferred larger and louder instruments. This was shown to be partly true. Females were indifferent to loudness while preferring smaller instruments. Males were indifferent to size but preferred louder instruments. The expectation also was that it could be shown that while both females and males do select instruments in what appears to be a gender related manner, this is simply a reflection of the natural preferences regarding the instruments which are held by the genders. This expectation was fulfilled. The expectation which was not realized by this study was that there would be a correlation between gender association by instruments and dropout rate. It was expected that a student who selected an instrument contrary to perceived gender bias would be more likely not to drop out than the student who selected an instrument consistent with the commonly accepted sex-stereotyping of instruments (using the logic that they would exhibit more determination because of their initial strength in selecting the instrument in the first place). The fallacy of this argument proved to be that since everything was the result of natural tendencies in the first place, there was no added bonus of determination as the result of selecting an unpopular instrument. It can be concluded that there is no “unreasonable judgment” involved in the decision to select an instrument (as in Merriam-Webster’s definition of bias) and that what this and other studies have observed and documented (calling it a gender bias) is nothing more than the natural preferences of the genders towards the various instruments.

Copyright 2010 by Pratt Music Co.

Bibliography

Abeles, H. F., & Porter, S. Y. (1978). The Sex-Stereotyping of Musical Instruments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 26, 65-75. Artan, I., & Balat, G. U. (2003). Recognition of Musical Instruments by Children Between 4 and 6 Years of Age and Research Concerning the Natural Sounds They Associate With Those Instruments. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 4 (3), 357-369. Bayley, J. G. (2004). The Procedure by Which Teachers Prepare Students to Choose a Musical Instrument. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 22 (2), 23-34. Burgess, T. F. (2001). A General Introduction to the Design of Questionnaires for Survey Research. Information Systems Services Guide to the Design of Questionnaires. Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/iss/documentation/top/top2.pdf Bartell, L. R., & Radocy, R.E. (2002). Trends in Data Acquisition and Knowledge Development. The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, 648-674. Burr, M. (2003). Music Instrument Preferences: Gender-Images and Gender Differences. Hanover University of Music and Drama, Proceedings of the 5th Triennial ESCOM Conference. Creative Research Systems (2006). Survey Design. The Survey System’s Tutorial. Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://www.surveysystem.com/sdesign.htm Delzell, J. K., & Leppla, D. A. (1992). Gender Associations of Musical Instruments and Preferences of Fourth-Grade Students for Selected Instruments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 40, 93-103.

Edwards, A. L. (1957). Techniques of Attitude Scale Construction. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Fortney, P., Boyle, J. D., & DeCarbo, N. (1993). A Study of Middle School Band Students’ Instrument Choices. Journal of Research in Music Education, 41, 28-39. Griswold, P. A., & Chroback, D. A. (1981). Sex-Role Associations of Musical Instruments and Occupation by Gender and Major. Journal of Research in Music Education, 29, 57-62. Harrison, A. C., & O’Neill, S. A. (2000). Children’s Gender-Typed Preferences for Musical Instruments: An Intervention Study. Psychology of Music, 28 (1), 81. Harrison, A. C., & O’Neill, S. A. (2003). Preferences and Children’s Use of Gender- Stereotyped Knowledge About Musical Instruments: Making Judgments About Other Children’s Preferences. Sex Roles, 49 (7/8), 389-400. Ho W. (2001). Musical Learning: Differences Between Boys and Girls in Hong Kong Chinese Co-Educational Secondary Schools. British Journal of Music Education, 18 (1) 41-54. Johnson C. M., & Stewart, E. E. (2005). Effect of Sex and Race Identification on Instrumental Assignment by Music Educators. Journal of Research in Music Education, 53 (4) 348-357. Kuhlman, K. (2004). The Impact of Gender on Students’ Instrument Preferences and Instrument Choices. Visions of Research in Music Education, 5. Lamb, R., Dolloff, L., & Howe, S. W. (2002). Feminism, Feminist Research, and Gender Research in Music Education. The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, 648-674. McNamara, Carter (2006). Basics of Developing Questionnaires. Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development. Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/questnrs.htm

O’Neill, S. A. (1997). Gender and Music. The Social Psychology of Music.

Orcher, L. T. (2005). Techniques for Data Analysis. Conducting Research, 135-160.

Pickering, S., & Repacholi, B. (2001). Modifying Children’s Gender-Typed Musical Instrument Preferences: The Effects of Gender and Age. Sex Roles, 45 (9/10), 623-643. Trochim, W. M. K. (2001). Survey Research and Scaling. The Research Methods Knowledge Base, 107-150. Walker, M. J. (2004). Influences of Gender and Sex-Stereotyping of Middle School Students’ Perception and Selection of Musical Instruments: A Review of the Literature. Visions of Research in Music Education, 4.

End Notes

[1] Merriam-Webster Online. “Bias,” http://www.m-w.com/ (accessed February 3,2007).

[2] Another reason for the all-male marching band lies in its ROTC roots. When schools like The University of Michigan finally decided to field a band at football games they logically turned to their ROTC cadets who were already practiced at marching. Many ROTC units already had military bands in place as well. This military heritage of many college marching bands also accounts for the all-male status which persisted until 1972 when Title XI forced them to admit women.

[3] Correlation coefficient calculated by Microsoft Excel 2002.

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