2026 Theses Doctoral

Uncovering Androcentrism in Singing Voice Pedagogy

Citera, Christopher

We live in a world implicitly built on male data for male bodies. Androcentrism, as a facet of patriarchal ideology, positions male physiology and experience as the implicit norm, obscuring, ignoring, or erasing sex-specific aspects of vocal function. Although physiological differences between assigned-female-at-birth (AFAB) and assigned-male-at-birth (AMAB) bodies—particularly the influence of sex hormones—are well established, little research has examined how these differences are conceptualized or accounted for in pedagogical practice. This qualitative study investigates how androcentric discourses shape the function and development of the AFAB singing voice by examining voice content (what is taught), pedagogical practices (how it is taught), and singer experiences (the relational contexts of applied lessons).

Using a modified instrumental collective case study design grounded in Evidence-Based Voice Pedagogy (EBVP), this study examines three domains of knowledge: literature/research evidence, teacher expertise, and singer perspectives. Each domain functioned as a case through which androcentric and sex-conscious discourses were analyzed. The study followed a sequential, multiphase qualitative design.

Phase 1 involved a content analysis of 17 voice pedagogy textbooks to examine theoretical representations of AFAB vocal function. Phase 2 included lesson observations and semi-structured interviews with expert AMAB voice teachers working with AFAB singers across musical genres, investigating how vocal content knowledge is interpreted and enacted in studio practice. Phase 3 used focus groups with seven professional AFAB singers to explore how they understand and experience their vocal function and development within educational and professional contexts. Cross-domain analysis allowed broader patterns of androcentrism to emerge across the field writ large. Across phases, discourse served as the unit of analysis, enabling examination of androcentrism as a pervasive and often implicit system of meaning.


Findings indicate that androcentrism operates through both the explicit and implicit denial or minimization of physiological differences between AFAB and AMAB voices. Within voice content, male-based frameworks obscure female-specific phenomena, including the complexity of the middle frequency range and the use and utility of the whistle register. Pedagogically, two contrasting approaches emerged: universalizing frameworks that assume functional sameness, and sex-conscious frameworks that account for physiological differences in vocal development. Across domains, sex-conscious discourses aligned more closely with singers’ embodied experiences. Singer data further revealed that androcentrism is intertwined with broader systems of patriarchal, capitalist, and racialized power that regulate expectations of vocal production, aesthetic standards, and professional opportunities for AFAB singers. Relational dynamics within applied instruction reflected these structures, ranging from teacher power leveraged to regulate singer behavior and vocalism, to teacher power used in service of student empowerment and autonomy of voice use.

This study concludes that androcentrism is structurally embedded across voice pedagogy, shaping how vocal function is conceptualized, taught, and experienced by AFAB singers. By centering AFAB embodied knowledge alongside pedagogical and theoretical discourse, this approach highlights the importance of including singer perspectives in empirical voice research. Doing so supports a more nuanced understanding of vocal function, positions the AFAB voice as a flexible instrument capable of multiple coordinations rather than prescribing pedagogical approaches that treat AFAB vocal function as genre-dependent, and promotes more responsive practices in applied studio contexts by redistributing power between teachers and students.