Gender associations with world music instruments by secondary school music students from the USA

Abstract

This article investigated possible gender associations with world music instruments by secondary school-age music students from the USA. Specific questions included: (1) Do the primary instruments played by the students influence gender associations of world music instruments? (2) Does age influence possible gender associations with world music instruments? (3) Does students’ gender affect possible gender associations? (4) Do presentation modes of visual only, instrument timbre, or a combination of visual and timbre influence gender associations? (5) What variables may influence possible gender association with world music instruments? Participants ( N = 455) were band and string students attending a large university-based summer music camp. Participants were randomly divided into three treatment groups: visual only, audio only, and visual/audio combination and exposed to 10 world music instruments that have specific sex-role associations in the culture of which they are a part. Participants completed a survey to indicate their perception of the extent of gender association with each instrument. Results showed that students were influenced by similar variables regarding gender associations with world music instruments as they are with traditional public school instruments typically found in the USA.