Who takes music? Investigating access to high school music as a function of social and school factors.

Music is one of the opportunities offered in most American high schools and, in theory, all high school students should be able to elect music where it is offered. Using a theoretical and methodological framework grounded in the sociology of education, this study employs nationally representative data from High School and Beyond to investigate how characteristics of students and their schools function to influence access to high school music as determined by student election of music courses. Bivariate analyses provide descriptive information about characteristics of schools that offer music and students who take it. Multivariate analyses estimate direct influences of student background, school characteristics, and student high school behaviors on the probability of enrolling in any music and in selected types of performance and non-performance classes. Path analysis models estimate direct and indirect effects of these constructs on enrollment probability and on the amount of music that students take. Important findings of the study are that (1) students who are socially and academically advantaged are more likely to take music--especially performance classes; (2) students who take music lessons before entering high school have a higher probability of taking any type of music during high school and take more units of music than students without prior lessons; (3) schools with highly academic curricula (i.e., Catholic schools, schools with more affluent student populations, and schools with high proportions of college-bound students) appear to discourage music course-taking; (4) minority students (Black and Hispanic) are systematically restricted from music course-taking because they are more likely to attend schools that do not promote music coursework and because they exhibit the academic characteristics of students who generally take fewer units of music. The major conclusion is that, in spite of efforts spawned during the 1960s to provide musical experiences for all teenagers in our pluralistic society, high school music education serves a relatively select population. While the voluntary nature of music in American high schools makes it appear that all students have equal access to music, the choice to elect music is limited for some students by social factors and factors related to school organization.PhDCommunication and the ArtsEducationEducational sociologyMusicMusic educationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/128840/2/9208660.pd