Perspectives From Three Points in the Collegiate Experience for Music Educators of Color.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This multi-study dissertation establishes a line of inquiry into collegiate experiences of prospective music teachers of color by investigating three key moments: graduation, deciding to leave the major, and planning where to work. Exploring each of these moments via three different empirical methods (secondary data analysis, collective case study, and critical quantitative inquiry) allowed for examining these questions from multiple perspectives to develop a more comprehensive understanding of issues of racial diversity and equity among music educators. In the first study, I gathered data from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data Service) as well as from manually contacting colleges to create a demographic profile of recent graduates with bachelor's degrees in music education. In the second study, I explored issues of collegiate attrition by interviewing seven former music education students of color who left their music education collegiate programs. Finally, in the third study, I examined employment preferences of preservice music teachers by surveying collegiate music education students at HBCUs, HSIs, PWIs, and large diverse universities using a Sawtooth Software Adaptive Conjoint Analysis survey.Paper 1: Recent College Graduates With Bachelor's Degrees in Music Education: A Demographic ProfileThe purpose of this study was to examine demographics of graduates with bachelor's degrees in music education to better understand the collegiate pipeline for music teachers of color. White overrepresentation has been observed throughout the music education profession, but the field lacks a large-scale demographic profile for recent college graduates in music education. Using data collected from 565 institutions reporting music education graduates in IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Data System) as well as 40 additional schools, 29,869 students graduated with bachelor's degrees in music education between 2011 and 2018; 81% were White, 7% were Hispanic/Latino, 4% were Black/African American, 2% were Asian, 0.5% were American Indian/Native Alaskan, 0.1% were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 2% identified as two or more races. In addition, HBCUs and HSIs comprised only 5% and 6%, respectively, of schools in this data set, yet accounted for almost 1/3 of all Black and 1/4 of all Latino music education graduates.Paper 2: Attrition of Music Education Students of Color: A Collective Case StudyIn this study, I examined experiences of former music education students of color who left their undergraduate programs to develop a more nuanced understanding of the pipeline into-or out of-the music teaching profession. Previous research in music education has examined both the collegiate experiences of students of color and student attrition generally; what is missing, however, are the perspectives of students of color who left their programs and their reasons for no longer pursuing careers as music teachers. To explore these questions, I interviewed seven former music education students of color from different universities.Guided by a theoretical framework of Museus' (2014) Culturally Engaging Campus Environment (CECE), three main themes emerged: first, the collegiate experience was characterized by a web of (dis)connections. Dimensions central to participants' experiences, curriculum, faculty, peers, auditions, ensembles, and institutional policies, were either connections that strengthened their relationship to the institution or disconnections that weakened their relationship. Second, participants encountered financial limitations specific to the music education major in a variety of ways not covered by financial aid. Third, participants engaged in a process of negotiating their own racial identities with, or against, the dominant norms of their respective institutions.Paper 3: Employment Preferences of Preservice Music Teachers: A Critical Quantitative AnalysisMusic teacher employment preferences have been examined previously using large-scale data sets and surveys. Demographics for these studies, however, have been overwhelmingly White; lost may have been the perspectives of music teachers of color. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine employment preferences for preservice music educators using a critical quantitative approach. Using a similar method as in Robinson's (2012) survey of preservice music teachers, but with modifications in attributes and sampling, I designed an adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA) survey through Sawtooth Statistical Software to survey collegiate music education majors at HBCUs, HSIs, PWIs, and large diverse universities.Overall, the two most important employment attributes for preservice music teachers were (a) teaching in a welcoming environment and (b) teaching in their area of musical expertise. Least important attributes were (a) student socioeconomic status, and (b) student race/ethnicity. Across participant subgroups, preservice music teachers were found to be mostly similar in their preferences, but with the following key differences. First, for those with student teaching experience, working in schools with excellent facilities and resources was more important, while student race/ethnicity was less important. Second, for Black preservice music teachers, student race/ethnicity was more important than for other teachers. Specifically, Black preservice music teachers indicated a significantly higher preference for working in schools with predominantly Black students, elevating student race/ethnicity to the third most employment important factor for Black teachers when considering a future job. Finally, although teaching in a welcoming school environment was the most important factor for preservice music teachers overall, it was of even greater importance for trans and gender expansive music teachers.