2021 Theses Doctoral

Equal Opportunity: Female Experiences in Music Entrepreneurship Education

Sadler, Katherine Marie

Institutions of higher education in the field of music are developing music entrepreneurship courses, certificate programs, and majors in greater numbers than ever before. Researchers have begun to assess the types of skills relevant to this field and educators are creating curricula to reflect this consensus. Few researchers have yet undertaken an investigation of how this education is experienced by students themselves. This study uses interviews from a number of administrators and students, as well as observations of courses and an assessment of the numbers of men and women within the field of music entrepreneurship, to examine the experience of women students in particular. Data were collected from participants from three institutions of higher music education in the United States over the course of 1.5 years. The data are interpreted to reflect emergent themes, which demonstrate the extent to which women experience bias and empowerment in the field of music and music entrepreneurship.