Orchestrated Sex: The Representation of Male and Female Musicians in World-Class Symphony Orchestras

Abstract

This study examines the representation of male and female musicians in world-class symphony orchestras. Personnel of 40 orchestras of three regions, the UK, Europe, and the USA, and distributions of men and women across the four orchestral departments, strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion, are compared. Significant differences in representation between orchestras of the three regions are reported. Practices adopted by orchestras when appointing musicians to vacant positions are reviewed and numbers of males and females appointed to rank-and-file and Section Principals are compared. Career patterns of male and female musicians are also compared. Increases in numbers of women appointed to orchestral posts in the last three decades are compared with increases in the proportion of women in the general workforce. The data of orchestral membership are then compared with the numbers of young people receiving tuition on orchestral instruments retrieved from a large national database ( n = 391,000 students). Implications for the future of male and female representation in orchestral personnel are then considered.

Origins of music in credible signaling

“…Male and female performers are both well-represented, historically, on the Billboard Top 100, albeit with an advantage toward males (Lafrance, Worcester, & Burns, 2011). While many of the highest-grossing musical artists of all time are male, sex differences in success as a musician likely have little to do with biology – a half-century ago, virtually all professional orchestral musicians were male, for example, whereas now the world's top orchestras are approaching gender parity (Sergeant & Himonides, 2019).…”

First impression biases in the performing arts: taste-based discrimination and the value of blind auditioning

“…One potential driver is intergroup bias: the evaluator may judge members of his own group more favourably (Hewstone et al 2002;Anwar 2012;Bagues and Perez-Villadoniga 2012). In orchestras, gender associations with instruments may drive bias (Abeles 2009;Stronsick et al 2018;Sergeant and Himonides 2019). A third potential driver is due to interaction effects of gender and race: in experimental judging sessions, videotaped males tend to score lowest among black performers; females lowest among whites (Elliott 1995).…”

The evolution of music: One trait, many ultimate-level explanations

“…Male and female performers are both well-represented, historically, on the Billboard Top 100, albeit with an advantage toward males (Lafrance, Worcester, & Burns, 2011). While many of the highest-grossing musical artists of all time are male, sex differences in success as a musician likely have little to do with biologya half-century ago, virtually all professional orchestral musicians were male, for example, whereas now the world's top orchestras are approaching gender parity (Sergeant & Himonides, 2019).…”