| The purpose of this study was to gather data on women who were employed as band directors in higher education during the 1979-80 academic year, to identify problems unique to them, and to discover how they coped with the problems. Also included in the purpose were comparisons between women and men band directors in higher education based on several criteria.;Statistical evidence indicated that women held 1.25 percent of the jobs as band directors in American colleges and universities. Several differences were found between these women and men band directors in higher education regarding the types of institutions which employed them, educational preparation, academic rank, teaching experience, and personal characteristics. The majority of the women directors were employed by small, four-year, private institutions, while men directors were more often employed by public institutions or by larger, more prestigious private institutions. More women than men directors held doctorates and a larger percentage of women than men held the rank of full professor; however proportionally fewer women than men held ranks of associate or assistant professor. Women directors were generally younger, had less teaching experience, and had held their present positions for a shorter tenure than their male counterparts. In addition, many more women directors than men were single.;Differences between women and men directors were also discovered concerning the size and type of bands they directed, financial compensation received, and work load. Bands directed by women were usually smaller than those directed by men. Women and men were most frequently found as directors of concert bands, but fewer women than men directed marching bands and jazz or stage bands. It was found that women directors were paid less than men in both the public and private institutions and when compared on a rank-to-rank basis. Women directors taught a heavier weekly contact hour load than did the men.;Women band directors in higher education were not aware of other women in the field and thus suffered from a lack of relationships with women peers and from the absence of a mentor of the same sex. They faced skepticism of their abilities as directors and reluctance by administrators to hire women for positions as band directors in higher education. The women directors generally agreed that in order to succeed in the field, a woman must have a strong personality and must be extremely capable.;The names of fifty-three women were identified from the 1979-80 membership lists of the Women Band Directors National Association, the College Band Directors National Association, the list of college band directors distributed by the College Music Society, and from other miscellaneous sources. A 10 percent random sample of 181 men band directors was drawn from a population of 1,811 men whose names appeared either on the 1979-80 membership list of the College Band Directors National Association or on the list of college band directors distributed by the College Music Society. Each member of the population of women directors and the sample of men directors was sent a questionnaire designed by the researcher for this study. Twenty-one women, or 39.62 percent, of the fifty-three listed met the criteria as a band director in higher education compared with 141, or 91.56 percent, of the 154 male respondents who met the criteria. |
