The Experiences of Women in Jazz: Implications for Jazz Education

Abstract

Researchers have previously identified jazz as a male dominated field due to a variety of issues including a lack of role models, pay inequity, sexualization, tokenism, and sexist language. Erin Wehr created a model using three social psychological theories (tokenism, stereotype threat, and self-efficacy) to understand and categorize the gender imbalance in this genre of music (Wehr, 2016). Wehr created this model using text published in the Jazz Changes magazine between 1994 and 2000 that were written in response to the question "Why aren't there more women in jazz education?" In this study, I sought to examine current social dynamics for women in jazz by interviewing five professional female jazz instrumentalists about their experiences and reflections on jazz participation. I used Wehr's theory to categorize the statements from these interviews to determine the most impactful aspects for women in jazz today and the implications for jazz education.