Tech column: bridging the gender gap

The shocking statistics published by Music Teacher in October 2022 revealed that less than a quarter of A Level Music Technology students are female. On top of this, the data identified a gender attainment gap, with a lower percentage of female students receiving top grades. We know that qualifications such as A Level act as gateways to further study and the profession. Research has already shown that women are significantly underrepresented in the music technology industry (Yorkshire Sound Women Network, 2018), therefore fewer female students at A Level will inevitably reinforce the gender gap.

Do girls and young women have the same experiences and confidence with technology as boys growing up? Societal factors, including traditional expectations of gender roles, can impact future career choices. For a long time, music technology has been perceived as a ‘masculine’ domain (Boise, 2018, p.33), with men viewed as the experts (Armstrong, 2011). These assumptions can be played out within the classroom. For example, Green (2002) found teachers perceived distinct gender roles in the classroom, often linking girls to more ‘conventional notions of femininity’ (p.138) and boys as more ‘imaginative, adventurous and creative’ (p.139). Another study with music teachers back in 1993 found that: ‘Where boys automatically use the equipment, you have to lead the girls to it like a horse to water’ (Comber, Hargreaves and Colley, 1993, p.132). Is this still the case 30 years later?