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British Journal of Music Education
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Girls, Boys and Technology in Music Education
Chris Comber, David J. Hargreaves and Ann Colley
British Journal of Music Education / Volume 10 / Issue 02 / July 1993, pp 123 - 134
DOI: 10.1017/S0265051700001583, Published online: 18 December 2008
Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0265051700001583
How to cite this article:
Chris Comber, David J. Hargreaves and Ann Colley (1993). Girls, Boys and Technology in Music
Education. British Journal of Music Education, 10, pp 123-134 doi:10.1017/S0265051700001583
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Girls,
Boys and Technology in Music
Education
Chris Comber, David J. Hargreaves and Ann Colley
Information technology is having a profound impact upon the music curriculum, and there
is
general agreement that boys and girls should have equal opportunities to
benefit
from it.
Although music has traditionally been a subject in which girls predominate, technology is
clearly stereotyped as a male preserve. The present paper reports some findings from the
Leverhulme Trust-funded ' Gender and educational computing in the humanities' project
at the University of Leicester, which is using survey and interview techniques with a large
sample of pupils and teachers in the Midlands to investigate these questions. The
preliminary results suggest that boys are more confident in their use of music technology;
that they are showing an increasing interest in music as a result of it; and that teachers
have a crucial role to play in ensuring that girls are not disadvantaged in the use of music
technology.
Introduction
All pupils, regardless of ethnic and cultural origin, of gender, and of physical and
mental ability, have the right to experience music. Indeed, we believe that music
has a very special role to play in breaking down barriers between pupils and
releasing potential within them
{Music
for Ages 5 to 14, DES, 1991, p. 51).
Equal opportunities
This recognition of the rights of all pupils to experience music from a variety of
cultures is a central part of the philosophy of the National Curriculum in music. The
present paper deals specifically with the issue of sex and gender in music education,
and the non-statutory guidance for teachers which was published along with the
finalised Orders for the Curriculum in 1992 includes the explicit statement that
'Music education is of equal value to boys and girls. No pupil should be denied access
to the music curriculum or any part of it for reasons related to gender' (Curriculum
Council for Wales, 1992, p. 7). Teachers need to be sensitive to the particular needs
of individuals, and are therefore encouraged to organise the musical activities of boys
and girls so as to ensure that these are based on genuine preference. 'At the primary
level, for example, both girls and boys should be given the opportunity to play large,
loud instruments (drums, cymbals, mini basses); and at the secondary level, teachers
might check that the composers studied and mentioned are not exclusively male'
(DES 1991, p. 52).
B.
J.
Music
Ed.
(1993), 10, 123-134 Copyright © 1993 Cambridge University Press
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Girls,
Boys and Technology in Music Education Chris Comber et al.
Gender and musical experience
There are some obvious reasons why a policy of equal opportunities should be spelt
out with respect to gender. At present, approximately twice as many girls as boys learn
to play musical instruments, and this imbalance is even greater for woodwind and
strings (DES, 1991). Since the introduction of the GCSE in 1987, an average of just
over 6 out of every 10 pupils opting for music have been girls. In 1987-8, 19,365 girls
sat the examination as compared with 10,637 boys, a proportion of
64-5%;
the
equivalent proportions for the years 1988-9, 1989-90 and 1990-91 were 62%,
61
%
and
60 %
respectively, i.e. a slight increase in the proportion of boys. Studies of the
gender stereotyping of school subjects also show that music is traditionally regarded
as a feminine rather than as a masculine domain. Archer and Macrae's (1991) analysis
of secondary school pupils' ratings of 17 school subjects on seven dimensions revealed
that music
'
veered towards the feminine': it was not in the
'
significantly feminine'
group of subjects along with PSE (personal and social education), RE, typing, and
home economics, but neither was it clearly in the 'neutral' category (along with
French, German, English, maths, art, history and biology).
This general pattern is borne out by the results of Crowther and Durkin's (1982)
study of the musical behaviour, interests and attitudes of
232
secondary school pupils.
They found that girls were more likely than boys to play musical instruments, to sing
in choirs, to attend concerts, and to express favourable attitudes towards music. The
strength of the latter effect was dependent on age: although girls expressed more
favourable attitudes at all age levels from 12 through to 18 years, this difference was
particularly pronounced at the ages of 12 and 13. There was also a general increase in
positive attitudes for both sexes over the whole age range. In the decade or so which
has elapsed since this data was collected, the rapid growth of music technology in the
secondary school is likely to have had a profound influence upon gender-related
patterns of musical behaviour. It has frequently been suggested that boys are more
likely than girls to use music technology, and this forms the focus of the present paper.
Music technology in education
All British primary schools now have computers amongst their resources, and many
have electronic keyboards. At the secondary level, it is hardly an exaggeration to say
that the widespread availability and relatively low cost of highly sophisticated music
technology is revolutionising the scope and potential of music teaching. Many
secondary schools possess synthesisers, sound processors, sequencers and music
processing software, and this equipment offers the possibility of radical changes in the
way in which music is taught, the scope of pupils' work, and the career options that
are opened to those pupils who seriously take it up.
The National Curriculum Orders for Music (DES, 1992) summarise the ways in
which 5 'strands of IT capability' can enhance work in music. These are
'communicating information', which involves the use of synthesisers, computers,
microphones, tape recorders, music processing software and other digital technology
to reproduce and process sound: 'handling information', which involves the storage
and multi-tracking of sounds via sequencers and other mixing techniques;' modelling',
in which IT is used as the vehicle for present techniques of composition within defined
musical structures: 'measurement and control', which involves the modification and
combination of sounds using mixing desks, samplers and expression controllers; and
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'applications and effects', such as the analysis of music which is produced
electronically, and the comparison of live and recorded performances.
It can be seen from this list that technology has the potential to remove many of the
barriers which are associated with the development of traditional musical skills: the
years of arduous practice needed to develop proficiency on an instrument, or the
ability to learn and read staff notation spring immediately to mind. Although the
development of these skills remains important, music technology nevertheless has the
potential to enable pupils at any level of interest or ability to participate in creative and
imaginative activities, and to work with a much wider range of sounds and resources
for recording and sound processing than was hitherto possible. Kemp (1986)
suggested that this can fulfil what he considers to be 'the essential and overriding
objective in music education, namely the ability to think in sound' (p. 39). This refers
not only to the process of forming internal representations of musical sounds, but also
to their associations with visual images and symbols other than staff notation, such as
in the creation and development of graphic scores. These techniques also give pupils
insight into the physical and acoustic properties of sound, which demand logical and
scientific skills alongside artistic ones.
This broader emphasis means that the range of careers associated with music goes
well beyond the traditional and competitive paths of professional performance,
conducting, and composition. The influence of the Technical and Vocational
Education Initiative (TVEI), which enabled many music departments to invest in
electronic equipment, highlights the wide ranging vocational and commercial
relevance of music today. Work in the music industry might now involve
manufacturing, publishing, broadcasting, journalism, recording, engineering, admin-
istration and management as well as computing. A working knowledge of technology
- with skills in programming, problem solving and logical thinking - is becoming
increasingly important in many of these. This means that it is all the more important
that girls and boys should be given equal opportunities to capitalise on the
opportunities which are opened up by music technology.
A recent study of the use of technology by 63 contemporary women composers in
Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland (Chambers, 1993) throws some light on the
current situation. Although a high proportion of these composers had access to music
technology, and although their attitudes towards it were generally positive, their use
of it tended to be infrequent. Chambers explains this disappointing rinding in terms
of
the
practical constraints faced by many members of her sample (financial resources,
lack of studio facilities, and of technical support), as well as in the broader context of
their family and educational backgrounds, and of the attitude of the artistic
establishment towards female composers.
Gender and technology
There is a good deal of research evidence which shows that information technology is
widely perceived as a masculine rather than as a feminine domain, and the clear
implication is that girls and women are in danger of missing out on the potential of IT
for promoting creativity and invention in the arts (see review by Colley, Hargreaves
& Dorn, 1992). Far more boys than girls take school examinations, and enter
University courses in computing (Hoyles, 1988; Dain, 1991); girls are less interested
in learning about computers than boys, and use them less even when given equal
access (Miura, 1987). Computers and IT have a strongly masculine image (Wilder,
Mackie & Cooper, 1985), and are widely regarded as a domain of male competence.
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Archer and Macrae's (1991) research on the gender stereotyping of school subjects,
which was mentioned earlier, revealed that IT was rated alongside CDT (craft, design
and technology) and physics as 'significantly masculine'. Their study also showed that
the perceived masculinity of these subjects was associated with the constructs
'interesting' and 'about things' for boys, and with 'difficult' and 'complicated' for
girls.
However, these perceptions have been shown to be influenced by the uses to
which computers are put. Lockheed (1985) reviewed gender differences in the use of
computers for different tasks, and concluded that males were more likely than females
to use the computer for programming and for game-playing, whereas there was more
evidence of gender equality for the use of the computer as a tool, i.e. for word
processing. The way in which boys and girls use computers for music remains an
important empirical question.
In summary, the roles of boys and girls in relation to music technology are clearly
complex and subject to rapid cultural changes. Although music has traditionally been
an area in which girls predominate, technological developments (and their association
with rock and pop music) have made it more attractive and accessible to many boys
who would not otherwise have shown any musical interests. This is a development
which is to be welcomed provided that girls are not correspondingly put off music by
the masculine image of technology: our hope must be that teachers are able to
encourage musical and technological sophistication in all their pupils, regardless of
gender. In the rest of this paper we describe some preliminary findings from a large-
scale research project at the University of Leicester which attempts to unravel some
of
the
issues described above. This project, 'Gender and educational computing in the
humanities', is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The rationale and methodology of
the project will be described, and its results and implications for music education will
be discussed.
The project
Our discussion of the use of music technology by boys and girls will draw upon
preliminary findings from the project, which is examining the effects of personal
characteristics (age, gender, gender-typing, musical and literary experience and
interests, school subject preferences), use of computers and music technology at home,
and school type upon attitudes towards the use of word processing in English and
towards the use of music technology in music. The project, which has two stages, is
using both semi-structured interviews and a survey to gather information. In the first
stage, which has been completed, a large survey of pupils was undertaken, together
with teacher interviews. The second stage is using a slightly modified version of the
survey to collect data from co-educational, single sex boys' and single sex girls'
schools, and interviews are being conducted with teachers and with pupils. Data from
the first stage survey and teacher interviews, and from some second stage pupil
interviews will be used to inform our discussion.
The survey
The first stage survey was administered to two pupil age groups, 11-12 years and
15-16 years. The pupils were drawn from four Leicestershire schools: two colleges for
the 14-18 age range, one high school for the 10-14 age range and one secondary school
for the 11-18 age range. In the younger age group there were 69 girls and 74 boys,
while in the older age group there were 62 girls and 73 boys. The schools varied in the
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amount and nature of music technology available for teaching, and in the arrangements
for extra-curricular access for students. One school employed the services of a male
part-time music technician.
Our discussion will draw upon the following information obtained from the survey:
1.
Length of musical training: One of four alternatives was selected to describe the
length of musical training: none at all, a little (up to a year), a moderate amount
(between one and three years), or a lot (more than three years).
2.
Previous use of music technology: One of four alternatives was selected to best
describe the frequency of previous use of music technology: never, once or twice a
year, every one or two months, or at least once a week.
3.
Perceived competence with music technology: Pupils were asked to indicate their
competence in the use of music technology compared with girls of their own age and
boys of their own age respectively. A 5-point rating scale was used where
1
= 'much
better' and 5 = 'much worse'.
4.
Attitudes to music technology: Pupils were asked to indicate their agreement with
three statements about music technology on a 5-point scale, where 1 = 'strongly
agree' and 5 ='strongly disagree'. The three statements were: 'I like music
technology',' Music technology makes learning music easier', and
'
Music technology
helps you to do better in music'.
Teacher
Interviews
Interviews were undertaken with one female and four male teachers from three of the
schools described above, and two schools from those in the ongoing stage 2 of the
project. The interview schedule covered three main areas; music technology facilities
and pupil access, the effect of music technology on music teaching, and gender issues
(including observed differences in the approaches of boys and girls to music
technology in general and to particular applications, the effect of
the
sex of
the
teacher
and the use of particular teaching strategies to address gender differences). Because the
interviews were semi-structured, the schedule was used as a guide rather than being
adhered to strictly.
Pupil Interviews
The pupil interviews used here were from stage 2 of the project. The pupils were
selected for interview on the basis of agreeing or disagreeing with the statement
indicating liking for music technology contained in the survey. The interview schedule
covered out of school computing experience, use of computers by parents, perceptions
of computing within the school curriculum, gender differences in the use of computers
and music technology in the classroom, and reasons for liking/disliking music
technology.
A great deal of information, both qualitative and quantitative, has been collected in
both stages of the project: this will be reported in full detail, along with appropriate
statistical analyses, in a number of separate publications in the educational and
psychological literature. In the present paper we have taken the opportunity to present
a broad-ranging, impressionistic account of those aspects of the results to date that are
of specific interest to music educators, and we have done so by drawing on both the
qualitative and the quantitative data.
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Results and discussion
Attitudes towards technology
A common explanation for boys' supposed greater expertise with computer technology
is that it is largely boys who own and use home computers; this finding is confirmed
by our own results. Boys from both age groups had significantly greater access to and
experience of computers over a broad range of applications. Over 60% of those
owning, or having the use of
a
home computer were boys, whilst three times as many
boys as girls reported that they used a computer on a regular basis (at least once a
week).
A related and somewhat surprising finding was that a clear majority of those
reporting the regular use of a word processor were male.
It is clear not only from our questionnaire data but also from the pupil interviews
that games playing, whether with personal computers (PCs) or specialised games
systems, constitutes a sizeable element of
boys'
activity with computers. Our interview
data suggest that this holds true not only at home, but that it may also happen at
school. Computer games, with their near universal themes of competition and
violence, are clearly designed to appeal to males, and this is easily seen in TV
advertisements for game systems like Nintendo and Sega, or programmes like
Gamesmaster,
all of which are clearly targeted at a male audience. It is not surprising
that girls feel excluded from these activities, such that a number of the girls
commented that computer games were 'all for the boys'. However, less expected was
the more common observation by girls that the whole activity was rather tedious. As
one
(11
year old) put it,' I'd rather go for something
interesting
like word processing or
art.' Several others suggested that not playing games constituted a mark of maturity;
'girls are more grown up when they use a computer,' said one 15 year old, whilst
another said that '(we) don't play them any more, that was for when we were
younger.'
Our survey also revealed that males were more confident than girls in their use of
music technology; this self-assurance showed itself in the ways in which they
compared their ability with those of others in their school year. Table 1 shows that
54 %
and 82
%
of the younger and the older boys in the sample respectively felt that
they were
'
better' or
'
much better' than their female peers in the specific use of music
technology: correspondingly, the equivalent proportions of girls who rated themselves
as superior to their same-sex peers were 46% and 18% for the two age groups. A
similar picture emerges when respondents were asked to rate their ability against their
male peers. To summarise, where pupils were asked to compare their ability with
others of the same year group, the girls' positive view of themselves
decreased
with age,
while their negative self-image
increased.
In contrast, the data for boys showed
increasing self-confidence with age.
The general view that females are less able than males in using IT seems to be held
by boys as well as by the girls themselves. As one 11 year old girl put it, 'boys usually
know what they're doing'. Whether or not this perception is accurate, or whether boys
just think they 'know what they are doing' is to a large extent irrelevant, since it is
precisely that belief which perpetuates the notion that technology is, as one music
teacher described it, a 'male preserve'. Clearly it would be inaccurate to suggest that
girls are averse to the use of computers per
se,
but the combination of the masculine
image of IT and boys' greater confidence may discourage girls from using music
technology. This situation may be exacerbated in the music classroom, where the
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Table
1.
Students
who
considered themselves
'
better
at
music technology' than others
in
the
same year group
0/ 0/
/o
/o
Boys Girls
Better
or
much better
i) younger group
ii) older group
Better
or
much better
i) younger group
ii) older group
than
girls
than boys
54
82
41
87
46
18
59
13
number of available workstations per student is often lower than in other school
departments.
Working with music technology
One encouraging possibility is that girls' greater general involvement and interest in
school music, coupled with the development of new and accessible educational
software, might offer them a route to a greater and more varied use of information
technology in music. It has to be recognised, however, that a music syllabus with a
higher technological profile may, by attracting a greater number of boys, discourage
girls from becoming involved. The fact that a number of girls expressed a tendency
to see males as being, as one girl put it, 'more adapted to computers', reinforced by
the boys' own confidence, seems to increase that likelihood.
Taking the sample as a whole, no striking sex differences were found in attitudes
towards the simpler forms of music technology such as electronic keyboards; almost
75 % of both boys and girls said that they enjoyed using them. Similarly, just over
50 % of all respondents agreed that music technology helped them to '
do
better in
music' or made 'learning music easier'. However, closer examination of the data
revealed that whilst for the younger age group, girls were more favourably inclined
towards music technology than boys, the reverse was true for the older group. Thus
whereas boys' attitudes remained relatively stable across the two age groups, older
girls were markedly less enthusiastic about music technology than younger girls.
One explanation for this finding might be that music technology at GCSE level is
likely to involve more technically complex equipment than that used with younger
pupils. This suggestion is given weight by the finding that for the older group, over
65 % of those who reported using computers for music, either occasionally or on a
regular basis, were male. Comments from some of the pupil interviews also offered
some support for this argument. One 12 year old girl's assessment of the situation was
that 'Boys prefer computers and girls prefer keyboards. (The boys) think they're
better at technical things'. Another said that 'I don't really go on the computers in
music, but the keyboards are easy to use'. The implication of this is that where music
technology is perceived by girls as being technical, it is correspondingly seen as male
territory, and therefore difficult. Electronic keyboards, on the other hand, seem to
retain the status of 'musical instrument', and thus present less of a problem for girls.
Given that music education has hitherto been regarded as more likely to attract
females, this evidence might be seen as particularly important. Whilst boys seem to
approach music technology with the self-assurance derived from many hours in front of
a home computer, bolstered by a cultural stereotype (apparently accepted by many
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females) which says that technology is masculine, girls are more likely to express
considerable anxiety and lack of confidence. Faced with an unfamiliar technology,
girls tend to 'play safe'. One music teacher in our interviews suggested that 'boys are
more willing to take risks. Girls will work to their strengths, and produce some very
fine work, but tend
to...
play safe.'
Boys seem to be much more likely to take chances, and to be relatively unconcerned
about the prospect of making mistakes. In contrast, girls' assumption that they would
be
' no
good at it' or that they would somehow make a mess of things was often quoted
by them as a reason for not using music technology. This fear of failure in using
computers seems particularly strong for females. One 15 year old who clearly
considered the technology to be useful, nevertheless referred to the difficulty of
' setting the computer out', and the negative effect upon her confidence of making a
mistake:' The problem... is not being able to understand it and recording over the top
of something else or something... I get... annoyed with it and give up... I just don't
bother'. A younger girl expressed a similar degree of frustration: 'One time when I
was doing it (setting out a
score)
I put in the spaces...and then some notes...it's
difficult because you don't know where you want the space. It turned my composition
absolutely wrong. Never again!'
Ironically, whilst many girls described the difficulties and anxieties that they
experienced when faced with music technology, boys were enthusiastic and often also
casual about how easy it
was
to operate. For many it represented a considerable ' short-
cut
'
to writing and performing:' It's really good, you can get a lot of sounds out of the
machine... if you just had a normal piano you wouldn't be able to do it.'
' It takes the work out of actually scoring a piece and recording it'
'I enjoy it... it's better than working on the piano... you've got automatic things
built in. I just went ahead and did this really good piece...you can't get that
anywhere else really'.
This masculine perception of
the
simplicity of music technology actually led one 16
year old boy towards a negative perception of its potential effects:
' You
don't have to
be a musician to make music now. Using computers, anyone off the street can just
make a number one hit'. He added that 'I like acoustic instruments, that's what
music's about really, not all computerised sounds'. Another boy took a similar, if
marginally more charitable view:
'If that's what you want to do with music, use that technology, that's fine...but
I don't like the fact that everything's done from one machine. If you're a real
musician you should know how to play the instrument... and read all the
music...it's all sampled, it's not really
(being)
a proper musician.'
It is from comments like these that we may begin to understand the different ways
in which females and males perceive music technology. For many girls, the technology
introduces a new complexity into music education which they find difficult or
disconcerting. With boys, precisely the opposite seems to be true; on the whole, it
provides a means of simplifying a complex and sometimes over-formalised process.
Gender and change in music education
We have suggested that school remains one of the few places where the traditional
feminine image of music remains. Our own survey findings, supported by evidence
from elsewhere, indicate that this too is in a process of
change.
Since the introduction
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of GCSE in 1987, the proportion of boys opting for music has steadily grown, from
35-5 %
then to over
40 %
in the 1990s. Our own results suggest that this
'
gender gap'
is even smaller, with only a slight majority of girls studying the subject. A number of
factors may be contributing to this phenomenon: in particular, the GCSE syllabus
itself allows for a much greater variety of teaching approaches than did the GCE
O-Level syllabus which it replaced. However, the incorporation of IT into the
National Curriculum at all levels, along with new developments in the technology
itself,
has meant that the face of the music classroom is undergoing radical change.
The teachers in our study were very conscious of this transition. One of them
commented that:
'
We
are accommodating of late a totally different kind of student. The picture is
changing tremendously now from (that of) the traditional instrumentalist...
especially now that there is open access to GCSE music and the syllabus allows
for the ' playing by ear' of the self taught musician to become involved... those
type of people who don't have, and probably wouldn't accept traditional
grounding in music, even though they may have highly developed musical skills'.
These developments clearly contribute to the attraction that music education now
holds for boys. As music technology becomes more 'user friendly' and inexpensive,
it is likely to play an even greater role in the future. Despite this change, it is clear in
our survey that girls continue to outnumber boys by a factor of more than 2:1 in
formal or traditional musical tuition. Boys are far more likely to come to music
education as self-taught performers of non-traditional instruments like the electric
guitar, with little or no ability to read or write music. Extra-curricular musical
activities also tend to show strong gender bias; school bands and rock/pop groups are
largely male, whilst orchestras and choirs remain predominantly female.
This means that boys, who have greater confidence and familiarity with computers
as well as a relative lack of formal tuition, are more likely to be attracted to music
technology since it offers them the ability to compose and perform with relative ease.
Far from opening a door through which girls can gain access to computers, music
technology may instead provide boys with a way into music which was not available
before. That boys are now beginning to opt for music in greater numbers is of course
to be welcomed. What may be less welcome is that girls may find themselves to be
further marginalised in their relationship to music technology rather than being
encouraged to pursue it.
Implications for the classroom
If this conclusion is true, then it clearly has implications for the teaching of
music
with
technology, and one important issue is the salience of gender in the music classroom.
One music teacher in our study, for example, although unaware of giving any
conscious consideration to gender in relation to music technology, nevertheless
conceded that 'now you come to mention it, I can't actually think of any girls who have
shown a real interest in the computers'. It is at least possible that this ' lack of interest'
derives from lack of experience, confidence, or indeed opportunity. Other comments
from music teachers tended to confirm the perception that boys are regarded as the
' natural' users of music technology:
'With boys, you don't have to introduce them to the equipment, they will do it
quite naturally'.
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'Whereas the boys will
automatically
use the equipment, you have to lead the girls
to it like horses to water',
(emphasis added)
Not all teachers shared these views, however, suggesting that the approach taken by
teaching staff crucially affects any existing gender inequalities:
' I cannot look at the students that I have now and think
' the
boys are behaving
in this way with the technology, the girls are behaving in that way'. I don't think
you can generalise any more...I have some girls who think 'brilliant', and I've
got boys who won't touch it.'
Although most pupils reported that the gender of their teacher made little difference
to their use of technology, it does not follow that no gender inequality exists. Those
comments in our pupil interviews which did raise this issue largely came from girls,
and were directed at male teachers who were perceived as giving boys more time and
encouragement. Both male and female teachers, whilst generally fervent supporters of
equal opportunities, eschewed any obvious or deliberate strategies which focussed
directly on gender. As one commented,' I don't think to
myself'
right, we've got some
girls here, they must use the computer''; this teacher believed instead that the most
important single factor is the understanding between teacher and pupil. The most
successful approaches seemed to be those which focussed upon the individual
student's level of
skill
and interest, irrespective of gender, and which introduced music
technology to all students for an initial 'familiarisation' phase, with no immediate
pressure to perform or produce.
There was some evidence to suggest that students working together in small mixed
groups enabled a
'
skill-sharing' approach, which seemed to be successful in reducing
anxiety, narrowing the 'gender gap', and facilitating co-operation rather than
competition. Teachers were universally in agreement that there are no innate
differences in aptitude between males and females, and that once girls feel familiar and
comfortable with the technology in front of them, they treat it in much the same way
as their male peers and produce work of equivalent standard. It seems reasonable to
conclude that once over the 'first hurdle' of apprehension about using music
technology, girls quickly catch up with their more confident male peers, and work with
equal enthusiasm. One of the older girls, who initially expressed difficulty in working
with music technology, commented that ' I like it when we put all the parts together
and it prints (the score) out for us, it's a lot easier when you've got that far.' Another,
said that, despite preferring to
'
stick to the piano... because I find it easier,' music
technology
'
brings out the best in your music... it fires your imagination... it tends to
give you more confidence.'
It appears to be important to enable girls to familiarise themselves with the
technology in a non-threatening environment, and in such a way that they are not
'frightened off' by early failure, or by the feeling that they are not as good as the boys.
Whether this implies the adoption of single-sex teaching, mixed groups, an individual
approach, or indeed a combination of methods has yet to be fully explored.
Conclusion
The advent of music technology in the classroom, and boys' greater involvement in
school music are undoubtedly to be welcomed and encouraged. However, this new-
found interest may serve to reinforce rather than to weaken the current masculine
132
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Girls,
Boys
and
Technology
in
Music Education Chris Comber
et al.
image
of IT The
reasons
why
females generally display lower confidence
in
computing are complex, and certainly involve cultural stereotypes as well as individual
psychological factors.
The preliminary findings
of our
research show that familiarity
and
previous
experience
are
clear predictors
of
confidence
in
computing,
and
that this
is
currently
accepted
as a
'male preserve'
by
boys
as
well
as by
girls. Manufacturers could clearly
have
a
part
to
play
by
taking
a
critical look
at
marketing strategies which
do so
much
to perpetuate the masculine image of computers. Girls and women will continue to feel
excluded unless those who manufacture and market computers begin to cater
for
them.
It is perhaps
in
schools that
the
greatest hope lies. Music education has
the
potential
to play a major role
in
redressing the imbalance between the sexes, so that
it
is essential
that teachers
and
researchers work collaboratively
to
identify those factors which
contribute
to
current inequalities,
and to
devise teaching practices which best address
them.
The
incorporation
of IT
into
the
music curriculum
is
still, relatively speaking,
in
its
infancy.
It is
precisely
for
this reason,
and
because
of
its immense potential
for
music education, that research
in
this field is timely
and
important.
In
the earliest days
of
the
'computer revolution' there
was
much discussion
of the
potential
of IT to
dissolve
the
barriers between 'masculine' technology
and
'feminine' creativity. That
dream
of
a gender-free technology
may yet be
within reach.
In
order
to
achieve
it we
need
to
ensure that
the
pitfalls,
as
well
as the
potential,
are
equally well signposted.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like
to
acknowledge
the
support
of
the Leverhulme Trust (grant
no.
F212J)
in
conducting this research.
We
would also like
to
acknowledge
the
assistance
of
Lisa Dorn
in the
collection of part
of
the
data discussed
in
this paper,
and
of Alison McNeil
in
transcribing
the
interviews.
Correspondence
to
Department
of
Psychology,
The
University, Leicester
LEI 7RH, U.K.
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