Music Production and Girls: A Phenomenological Study of the High School Music Technology Classroom

Female representation in public spheres and organizations is a continuing topic in American research. Females have historically been left out of all aspects of computer technology and the technical sides of the music industry. In upper echelons of music making, from composition to production, they remain vastly under-represented. People begin forming ideas about who they are, their abilities, and their future career interests in high school, especially in elective courses like music technology that are geared towards allowing students to explore their creative skill sets to determine if these elective experiences are something for which they have a life-long passion. Female students’ experiences, perceptions, and relationships with their teachers and peers can impact these perceptions about their abilities and interests. Little research has been done in the field of secondary education music technology or female experiences in this field. This qualitative, action research study looks at female students in a suburban high school setting and studies their perceptions of their classroom environments, including relationships with peers and teachers, their perceived competence, and self-efficacy. This study also examined male and teacher perspectives about these classroom environments to provide a comparison and holistic context for the female perspectives.