1. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS

2. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN IDEAL RESEARCH PLAN: 10 groups with female graduate students 10 groups with male graduate students 5 with theory grad students 5 with other grad students 5 with theory grad students 5 with other grad students representation from across North America even distribution of Master’s and Ph.D. students

3. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN PARTICIPANTS: 8 female graduate students in music theory 4 at the Master’s level; 4 at the Ph.D. level 2 universities represented both Canada and the US represented

4. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN ACTIVITIES: 1. Perceptions of the Discipline I (from the point of view of a music theory graduate student) 2. Perceptions of the Discipline II (from the point of view of a musicology graduate student) 3. Identification of Barriers and Challenges to Recruitment 4. Exploration of Potential Recruitment Strategies undergraduates graduate students in theory at the Master’s level students in other branches of music (composition, performance, musicology, ethnomusicology)

5. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN PERCEPTIONS OF THE DISCIPLINE I: music theory is perceived as academic, involving thinking and dealing with the music itself; it is technical musicology is perceived as broad and multi-disciplinary; it seeks to create a historical context for the music a small number of negative perceptions about music theory no negative perceptions of musicology

6. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN PERCEPTIONS OF THE DISCIPLINE II: musicology is perceived as broad[er], wide[r] in scope, multi-disciplinary, sensitive, nuanced, able to step back and see the whole picture music theory is perceived as narrow, dull, dry, limited, detailed approximately seven in ten of the words or phrases indicated negative perceptions about music theory no negative perceptions of musicology

7. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN FINDINGS OF ACTIVITIES 1 & 2: when responding as music theory graduate students, participants showed generally positive impressions of both disciplines when responding as “musicologists,” participants showed a positive impression of musicology and a predominantly negative impression of music theory

8. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN Overall: participants were surprised by the gender differences between musicology and music theory (~50% female vs. ~30% female) many of the barriers and challenges identified were NOT gender-specific BARRIERS & CHALLENGES: some of the barriers and challenges identified were NOT specific to music theory

9. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN BARRIERS & CHALLENGES: a) undergraduates some kind of resistance to numbers and technical representations (not gender-specific) lack of exposure to the discipline BEFORE college (not gender-specific) undergraduate theory curriculum is very different from what really goes on in the field (not gender-specific) [lack of female role models]

10. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN BARRIERS & CHALLENGES: a Ph.D. is very different from a Master’s degree; many people simply don’t want to continue (not gender-specific) (not music-theory-specific) time commitment required for Ph.D.; question of when to fit in marriage and children (not gender-specific) (not music-theory-specific) group dynamics in “male-prominent” field; men more likely to interrupt each other in seminars, etc. b) students at the Master’s level [lack of female role models]

11. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN BARRIERS & CHALLENGES: convincing someone to change fields is not gender- specific nor theory-specific people in other fields don’t know what music theorists actually do (not gender-specific) lack of female role models c) students in other branches of music perception that people who go into theory already have a background in the discipline negative perceptions about music theorists: “kind of orderly and dull” (not gender-specific)

12. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES: a) undergraduates focus on juniors/seniors – concentrate on practical aspects by telling students about teaching assistantships, possibility of making money, etc. demonstrate that there is a big difference between under- graduate and graduate-level theory go “beyond the syllabus” occasionally in undergraduate teaching find some funding for undergraduates to attend regional or national theory conferences

13. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN a) undergraduates, continued set up a mentorship program in which a female faculty member or a female graduate student is paired up with a female undergraduate (either from same institution or from a nearby institution) to address the role model issue: schools should invite more female guest theorists more effort to have female session chairs at conferences have a core course taught by a female faculty member (to provide an “early-on” role model)

14. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN more program flexibility: allow part-time attendance, restructure aid so that part-time is possible, support decision to have (and have time for) children; the ingrained attitude in universities of looking at quantity of publications creates a preference for those who have no personal lives create a supportive and constructive environment for qualifying exams and learning in general (sometimes the manner in which work is criticized can make students “feel bad” and ready to quit – particularly true for women) b) students at the Master’s level RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES:

15. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN b) students at the Master’s level, continued improve atmosphere between faculty and students; students should feel comfortable taking their problems to faculty to address the role model issue: participants felt that this problem was beginning to correct itself; there was a general perception that there already were more junior theory women faculty members than in the past some older senior women faculty don’t support maternity leave because they didn’t have it; they should be supportive of initiatives that might encourage women to pursue upper-level work

16. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN interdisciplinary events at individual schools, at which theorists interact with other disciplines (to break the stereotype that theory is narrow); CSW could promote such events women don’t have as many role models for theory; they should be encouraged to look at professional women in any field (“she’s doing what she’s passionate about – I could, too!”) related to the above, make an effort to encourage women to stay in any upper level graduate program c) students in other branches of music RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES:

17. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

18. POTENTIAL NEXT STEPS: improving music theory’s image development of a recruitment tool that: demonstrates how woman can and do succeed in music theory demonstrates that theory can be broad, interdisciplinary, and sensitive to historical context finding a way to foster academic interactions between theory and other branches of music

19. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN RECRUITMENT TOOL: A DVD or podcast featuring five theorists on the topic of “what I do and why I love it.” each should talk for about 7 minutes and include visuals of interesting material from his/her research the theorists chosen should demonstrate connections to other branches of music (performance, musicology, composition, ethnomusicology) three of these theorists should be women

20. SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY – COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN