Effects of Music Self-Perception on Music Education and Nonmusic Majors’ Ensemble Participation

Abstract

In this study, I examined the relationship between undergraduate music education and nonmusic education majors and their music self-perception, or how they perceived themselves as musicians. A secondary purpose of the research included investigating the relationship between music self-esteem, gender, concentration, year in school, and continued arts participation. Participants (N = 66) were music education and nonmusic education undergraduate volunteers from one band, one chorus, and four music education classes at a large, public university in the Northeastern United States. The participants completed a shortened version of Schmitt’s Self-Esteem of Musical Ability Scale, along with questions about gender, ensemble participation, major, and instrument. Results indicated no significant difference between music self-esteem in music education majors and nonmusic education majors who participated in college ensembles. There were significant differences in music education majors’ comparison of themselves to their high school peers, self-comparisons over 1 year, and planned future ensemble participation. More years of experience in ensembles predicted higher Schmitt’s Self-Esteem of Musical Ability Scale scores.

Keywords

college music ensembles music education majors music participation music self-perception self-esteem

Self-esteem has long been an observed factor in adolescent development (Maïano et al., 2004; Stets & Burke, 2014). In psychology, self-esteem is defined as the relationship between positive beliefs and self-worth (Harter, 1993). High self-esteem in adolescents is connected to higher life-satisfaction, lower engagement in risky behaviors, and higher academic achievement and personal motivations (Austin, 1990; Jackman & MacPhee, 2017; Moksnes & Espnes, 2013). Although adolescent self-esteem is considered important because of the biological, social, developmental, and emotional factors occurring during that time, longitudinal research findings have indicated fluctuation in self-esteem across an entire life span. Orth and Robins (2014) synthesized research on the arc of self-esteem across a lifetime. They determined that self-esteem is high in childhood, decreases during adolescence, then increases through middle-adulthood before decreasing until end-of-life. Even though self-esteem levels followed a predictable arc, self-esteem remained stable relative to an individual’s self-esteem early in life. For instance, individuals with low self-esteem early in life had consistently low self-esteem throughout their life, whereas individuals with higher self-esteem tended to have high self-esteem throughout their life (Orth & Robins, 2014). Bleidorn et al. (2016) reached similar findings in their large-scale Internet sample, also noting that men consistently reported higher self-esteem than women.

Self-concept and self-esteem, while not the same, may be used interchangeably (Huitt, 2009). According to Huitt (2009), self-concept refers to the cognitive aspects of self-belief, whereas self-esteem refers to the affective or emotional aspects. Self-concept can be thought of as a general view of self-worth and self-esteem as a more specific instance of self-concept. Huitt cites Franken (1994) who wrote that self-concept is the “foundation of all motivated behavior” (Franken, 1994, p. 443), and that high self-esteem is inherently related to a well-defined self-concept. Self-concept and self-esteem are unable to be disconnected from one another; one cannot have high self-esteem without a high self-concept, and vice versa.

Researchers have often observed and analyzed connections between music participation and self-esteem or self-concept. Reynolds (1992) wrote a thorough review of literature concerning music and self-concept, noting distinctions between academic and general self-concept. Academic self-concept relates to school and subject-specific self-concept, whereas general or nonacademic self-concept concerns social, physical, emotional, and relational aspects (Reynolds, 1992). Although music has been presumed to enhance general self-concept (Costa-Giomi, 2004; Rickard et al., 2013), there is scant research that supports this claim and it has been contested (Zapata & Hargreaves, 2018). Although studies have correlated music education participation to higher self-concept (Austin, 1990; Costa-Giomi, 2004; Rickard et al., 2013), more research into the variables surrounding self-concept in music education is necessary. Rickard et al. (2013) suggested that boosting global self-esteem may be related to either general arts activities or the relationship that occurs through individualized instruction, rather than specific music events or music making.

Music Self-Esteem and Motivation

Associations and distinctions have been made between general or global self-esteem and music self-esteem. Although global self-esteem focuses on self-esteem in all academic subjects, music self-esteem focuses on a person’s perceived music abilities and characteristics. To determine if there was a relationship between music self-concept and band participation, Austin (1990) used Schmitt’s Self-Esteem of Musical Ability Scale (SEMA) to measure the music self-concept of 252 fifth- and sixth-grade students. Austin found that female participants had higher music self-esteem scores than male participants. Participants’ scores on the SEMA test were significant predictors of music participation both in and out of school. Although the researcher noted a relationship between music self-esteem and music participation, it was unknown whether students had high music self-esteem because they participated in music or if students chose to participate in music because they had high self-esteem.

The relationships between self-perception, motivation, and participation have been evaluated within specific music classrooms. Evans and Liu (2019) studied motivations for high school students’ participation in an orchestra program, considering increased self-esteem as a potential factor. In their study, they found that psychological needs satisfaction, or when a person’s psychological needs are met, positively predicts higher self-esteem in the music classroom. They emphasized, however, the suspected cause of self-esteem increase; motivation and the climate where learning takes place were more important to the learning than the act of music-making itself.

To consider and compare self-esteem in music classes versus other classes, self-esteem and motivation should also be considered in a larger academic context. In a multinational data analysis, McPherson and O’Neill (2010) explored the motivations of students from eight different countries to participate in music ensembles through the framework of expectancy-value theory. They also analyzed the students’ beliefs of music’s value in the school system compared to other subjects. Because expectancy-value theory includes the belief that students’ decisions are always made within a “complex social reality” (McPherson & O’Neill, 2010, p. 131) and will change based on the perceived value of the activity, the researchers explored students’ motivations and values in multiple subjects, both those considered academic (math, science, and native language studies) and nonacademic (art, music, and physical education). The results from the study suggested as students got older, they were less motivated in all subjects, but especially music and art. Concurrently, there was a perceived increase in difficulty in all school subjects, including music and art. The authors suggested, then, that as students felt less successful in school subjects, they were less motivated to continue with them. In academic subjects, this could result in lower self-esteem surrounding certain subjects or school itself. In nonacademic subjects, however, lower motivation often meant lowered participation.

Music Participation

Arts participation and retention in participatory music classes is a familiar and thoroughly researched topic in music education. Between elementary school and high school there is a sharp decline in music enrollment, usually because music classes transition from required to elective classes (Alegrado & Winsler, 2020; Kinney, 2010, 2019). The phenomenon of music class attrition is particularly relevant in high school where students in arts account for only 24% of the population and those students are predominantly white females from the highest socioeconomic status quintile (Elpus & Abril, 2019). One factor that might explain the sharp decline in music participation is that students perceive music as less valuable the further they progress in their school career (McPherson & Hendricks, 2010; McPherson & O’Neill, 2010). The students who remain enrolled in music programs, however, are typically more focused on music and perceive an increased value in music (McPherson & O’Neill, 2010). To increase enrollment and advocate for their programs, many teachers suggest that music participation can increase achievement, test scores, and critical thinking skills. Research to the contrary shows that rather than music predicting achievement, previous high achievement might be a better predictor of music participation and enrollment (Alegrado & Winsler, 2020; Austin, 1990; Demorest et al., 2017).

Students enrolling in high school music programs are a small population of high-achieving individuals that value music learning. From this minority pool come future music education majors and music educators (Rickels et al., 2013). Madsen and Kelly (2002) found that over half of music education majors decided to become music teachers during their high school band, chorus, or orchestra experience. High school is the age when students decide to major in music education, but it is also when students often choose to discontinue music participation in their collegiate career (Amundson, 2012; McDavid, 1999). According to McDavid (1999), 93% of students surveyed decided in high school whether they would participate in a college band ensemble. Amundson (2012) similarly found that 46% of students surveyed made their decision to discontinue chorus before entering college. Both McDavid and Amundson noted that intrinsic motivation, self-perception of abilities, and time spent all played a significant role in students’ decision to discontinue with music ensembles in college.

Students who chose to continue with music in college did so primarily for a love of music (Moder, 2018). In a survey of collegiate band students across the United States, Moder (2018) examined the hierarchy of reasons that nonmusic education majors chose to participate in college music. Over a third of respondents reported that love of music and enjoyment of music were the primary reasons to participate in college bands, whereas the desire to continue playing music accounted for 15%. Moder also reported that 46% of the sample population expressed a desire to continue playing after college; 46% of the population said they were unsure, and only 8% said that they did not wish to participate in band after college. Along with the intrinsic motivations and self-perceptions, students who participate in college band do so for love of their instruments and a desire to continue playing them (Amundson, 2012; McDavid, 1999; Moder, 2018).

The factors that contribute to music participation attrition also motivated students to pursue a degree in music education (Bergee et al., 2001; Councill, 2004; Miksza & Austin, 2010). Self-perception and self-esteem have been studied as factors leading to students’ decision to pursue music following high school either as a hobby or as a major (Clements, 2002; Demorest et al., 2017). Few researchers have addressed whether music self-esteem differs at the collegiate level between music education majors and nonmusic education majors, and the relationship of music self-esteem in college to music participation following college. The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is a relationship between students’ music self-perception and pursuing a degree in music education. Research questions included the following: (1) How does the instrument played, the number of years a person is involved in ensembles, or a person’s current music involvement affect music self-esteem? (2) Do nonmusic factors such as gender or year in school affect a person’s music self-esteem? (3) Does self-perception affect peer comparisons or intended participation in future ensembles?

Method

Participants

Participants for this study were volunteers from a large, public university in the Northeastern United States; recruitment occurred from a large wind ensemble, a large choral ensemble, and from four undergraduate music education classes. I used convenience sampling to recruit participants; this method of recruitment draws participants from a population that is readily available to the researcher (Creswell, 2018). Participants were invited to complete SEMA questionnaire and 69 participants completed the questionnaire in its entirety. Because the primary aim of the study was to compare music education majors with nonmusic education majors, three participants who did not fit these criteria were excluded from the data, leaving 66 participants for analysis. The participants analyzed reported either as male (n = 24), female (n = 43), or nonbinary (n = 1). Although most participants in the study identified as female, the study reflected similar gender proportions to the sample population; data collection took place at an institution where the ensembles and music education classes typically had more female than male students. Participants also indicated their specific major in the questionnaire; 32 participants indicated that they were music education majors and 34 indicated a major outside of music. Of the 66 participants whose data were analyzed, 43 participants identified an instrument as their primary area of study, 20 identified as vocalists, and three identified as both instrumentalists and vocalists (see Table 1 for Frequency Distributions). Overall, 14 freshmen, 19 sophomores, 21 juniors, and 12 seniors participated in the study. More freshmen and sophomores, however, were nonmusic education majors, and more juniors and seniors were music education majors.

Table 1.

Frequency Distributions for SEMA Scores.

		N	%	SEMA mean score	SD
Major	Music education	32	48.5	58.13	6.09
	Nonmusic education	34	51.5	55.41	7.14
	All participants	66	100	56.73	6.74
Gender	Male	22	33.3	56.50	8.27
	Female	43	65.2	56.89	6.00
	Nonbinary	1	1.5	55.00	0.00
	All participants	66	100	56.73	6.74
Concentration	Instrumentalist	43	65.2	56.33	7.50
	Vocalist	20	30.3	57.55	5.21
	Both	3	4.5	57.00	5.29
	All participants	66	100	56.73	6.74
Year in school	Freshman	14	21.2	53.64	8.25
	Sophomore	19	28.8	57.80	5.29
	Junior	21	31.8	58.52	4.29
	Senior	12	18.2	55.50	9.33
	All participants	66	100	56.73	6.74

Note. SEMA = Schmitt’s Self-Esteem of Musical Ability Scale.

Questionnaire

Participants completed a shortened form of the SEMA test (Schmitt, 1979) validated by Austin (1990). This music self-esteem test originally studied the music self-esteem of children in fifth and sixth grades (Austin, 1990; Schmitt, 1979). To account for the test distribution to undergraduate students rather than elementary school students, I adapted some of the language and questions in the questionnaire. For instance, I changed the word “kids” to “peers” or “other musicians” whenever it occurred. Two questions involving a career in music were adjusted to consider music participation in general; “I would like to have a professional career in music” was rewritten as “I would like to participate in music outside of collegiate ensembles” and “I believe I could become a professional singer or player” was rewritten as “I believe I have developed the skills to continue making music after college.” Because I only changed the language and not the actual content of the SEMA, I chose to rely on Schmitt’s (1979) and Austin’s (1990) original claims of content validity for the questionnaire. I chose Austin’s shortened form of the SEMA scale due to its brevity, its previous validation, and the questions’ reliability and relatability toward music self-esteem (Austin, 1990). Participants responded to each statement on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).

To verify the internal reliability of the 5-point scale, I calculated Cronbach’s α for all questions in the SEMA portion of the questionnaire. Cronbach’s α for the 15 questions was .82, showing a high level of internal reliability for music self-perception. Extra questions concerning comparisons and future participation were evaluated separately to retain the SEMA test’s reliability and to determine each participants’ SEMA score. On the SEMA questions, students received whole-number points based on their responses to the Likert-type scale. The scoring method was consistent throughout the questions except for two. For the two negatively worded questions—“Music is harder for me than for others” and “I have such a hard time in music that I often feel worthless”—the scoring was reversed (1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree). The highest score that a participant could receive on the SEMA portion of the questionnaire was 75 points; the higher number of points a participant earned, the higher the participant’s music self-esteem.

To further answer my research questions, I added a separate section to the questionnaire concerning participants’ previous, current, and intended future music participation. Participants documented their instrument or voice part, gender, the ensembles in which they participated at the time of the study, major, the total number of years they had performed in ensembles, and their current year in school. Next, participants ranked their ability compared to their high school peers, their college peers, and themselves as a musician a year ago. The statements in this section of the questionnaire included, “I am a better musician than I was one year ago;” “I feel that I am . . . compared to my college peers;” and “I feel that I am . . . compared to my high school peers.” Participants could answer the first statement with, “Yes,” “Maybe,” or “No,” and the latter two statements with “Below Average,” “Average,” or “Above Average.” Last, participants indicated their intentions to participate in ensembles in the following semester, the next academic year, and following their graduation from college. Questions in this section included, “I hope to participate in an ensemble next semester;” “I hope to participate in an ensemble next academic year;” and “I hope to participate in an ensemble following graduation;” participants answered either “yes,” “maybe,” or “no” to these three questions.

Procedure

To determine whether there was a relationship between music major enrollment and music self-perception, I focused the data collection on college musicians and their perceptions of music ability. After an initial, in-person introduction, I explained the questionnaire and invited all students to participate in the study. Then, all members of the ensembles and music education classes received an email with the link to the study. The questionnaire took participants about 10 minutes to complete and remained available to students for 2 weeks before it was closed.

Results

Out of the participants analyzed (N = 66), the mean SEMA score was 56.73, with a standard deviation of 6.74. When divided between music education majors and nonmusic education majors, music education majors had a mean score of 58.13 (SD = 6.09) and nonmusic education majors had a mean score of 55.41 (SD = 7.13). A Mann-Whitney U test comparing SEMA means of music education and nonmusic education majors indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups’ reported music self-esteem. Further analyses comparing gender, instrumental concentration, and year in school using a Kruskal-Wallis test also showed no significant differences in SEMA score between populations (see online supplemental material).

To determine whether there was a relationship between the number of years a student participated in band, choral, or orchestra ensembles and their scored music self-esteem, I compared participants’ SEMA scores with the number of years that they participated in formal music making. Using a bivariate analysis of correlation, I found a significant, positive relationship between participants’ SEMA scores and the number of years that they participated in formal music ensembles, r = .26, p = .03. Participants who participated in formal music ensembles for longer had higher music self-esteem.

The final questions in the questionnaire asked students to compare themselves with their peers and to indicate whether they were likely to participate in future ensembles (see Table 2). All three questions about peer comparisons were considered for analysis, but only the final question about ensemble participation was analyzed to avoid a biased data sample, as music education majors are required to participate in ensembles every semester. Comparing responses through a series of likelihood ratios, I found that there was no significant difference between music education major and nonmusic education majors’ comparisons of themselves to their college peers. When comparing themselves to their high school peers, 31 music education majors believed themselves to be “above average” compared with their high school peers, while only 25 nonmusic education majors believed the same to be true, yielding a significant difference in the likelihood ratio. More music education majors (n = 30) also believed themselves to be stronger musicians than they were a year ago; when compared with nonmusic education majors (n = 24), the likelihood ratio also yielded a significant difference. Finally, there was a significant difference between music education majors and nonmusic education majors in plans to continue in ensembles after graduation. The data suggested that music education majors (n = 23) may be more likely to plan to participate in ensembles after graduation than their nonmusic education major counterparts (n = 13).

Table 2.

Observed Counts for Likelihood Ratio Test.

	Below average	Average	Above average	Total
Compared with college peers
Music education	3	22	7	32
Nonmusic education	2	24	8	34
Total	5	46	15	66
Compared with high school peers
Music education	0	1	31*	32
Nonmusic education	1	8	25*	34
Total	1	9	56	66
	No	Maybe	Yes	Total
Stronger musician than 1 year ago
Music education	1	1	30*	32
Nonmusic education	2	8	24*	34
Total	3	9	54	66
	No	Maybe	Yes	Total
Participation in an ensemble after graduation
Music education	0	9	23*	32
Nonmusic education	2	19	13*	34
Total	2	28	36	66

Likelihood ratio significant at p < .05.

Discussion

The purpose of this research study was to determine whether there was a significant difference between the music self-esteem of undergraduate music education majors and nonmusic educations majors. The data for the study indicated that there was no significant difference between the SEMA of music education majors and nonmusic education majors, thus confirming the null hypothesis of the study that the two populations hold similar music self-esteems. Part of the explanation for this might be that all participants who volunteered were members of an ensemble. Previous research involving the effect of music self-esteem on ensemble participation revealed that students who participated in music ensembles had higher music self-esteem than those who did not (Austin, 1990; Demorest et al., 2017). Students who elected to continue in music ensembles following high school most likely chose to do so in high school (Amundson, 2012; McDavid, 1999), and perhaps had a higher music self-esteem before beginning college. A future version of this study might include varying the population to assess the music self-esteem of nonmusic education majors that had previous music experience but do not participate in collegiate music ensembles. Similarly, assessing the self-esteem of college students or adults who have never had formal music experience might produce different results when compared with those pursuing a degree in music education.

Music Factors and SEMA Score

The first research question of the study asked, “How does the instrument played, the number of years a person is involved in ensembles, or a person’s current music involvement affect music self-esteem?” According to the data, there was a moderate correlation between the number of years that a student performed in an ensemble and their SEMA score. Students who played their instruments or sang in an ensemble for more years had a somewhat higher music self-esteem. It is possible that students who have spent more time in ensembles are more familiar with their instruments or singing skills, contributing to a higher music self-perception.

McPherson and O’Neill (2010) suggested that students’ motivation to participate in ensembles was related to the expectancy-value theory, which suggests that a person is more motivated to continue an activity when they feel they receive some benefit from it. Students who have continued participation in ensembles for a larger number of years probably place a high value on their music ability and consider ensemble participation worth their time. As aforementioned, it would be worth considering and comparing in a future study music self-esteem of music education majors to college students who have chosen to discontinue ensemble participation, especially considering the number of years each participant spent in ensembles before making the decision to continue or discontinue. Future studies might also explore this relationship through the lens of expectancy-value theory to determine how perceived value and years of participation in ensemble are related to music self-esteem.

Nonmusic Factors and SEMA Score

The second research question asked, “Do nonmusic factors such as gender or year in school affect a person’s music self-esteem?” Unlike previous research (Austin, 1990), there was not a significant difference between gender and SEMA score, suggesting that the participants in this study had comparable music self-esteem regardless of gender. It is possible that there was a significant difference in Austin’s population because his participants were younger (Austin, 1990). Students in Grades 5 and 6 would have a higher global self-esteem, and perhaps consequently, a higher music self-esteem, than the young adults who participated in this study (Austin, 1990; Bleidorn et al., 2016; Orth & Robins, 2014). Austin (1990) suggested that male students may have had lower self-esteem scores due to “social stereotyping or even bias in teacher expectations” (p. 28). Although Austin’s findings indicated significant differences between boys’ and girls’ music self-esteem, the present study showed no significant difference between the music self-esteem of adolescent men and women. Because there is a correlation between high music self-esteem and music participation (Austin, 1990; Demorest et al., 2017; Evans & Liu, 2019; McPherson & O’Neill, 2010), it is possible that male college students who chose to participate in ensembles had a higher self-esteem than their peers who chose not to participate in collegiate ensembles. It may be beneficial to replicate this study with nonmusic participants in college to determine if there is a relationship between gender and ensemble participation, and therefore, gender and music self-esteem.

Analysis of SEMA score compared with year in school also yielded no significant differences. There are several factors that could have resulted in this finding. First, most students at the university, and consequently, those enrolled in ensembles and classes, are between the ages of 18 and 23. Because these students are considered either late adolescents or young adults, their individual self-esteem may be similar regardless of year in school (Orth & Robins, 2014). Additionally, students had played in ensembles for a similar number of years regardless of year in school; the mean number of years that students performed in formal music ensembles was 9.41 (SD = 3.10). The mean for all participants was similar to the individual means for each of the years in school; freshmen averaged 8.93 years (SD = 3.39), sophomores averaged 9.52 years (SD = 2.40), juniors averaged 9.24 years (SD = 3.52), and seniors averaged 10.08 years (SD = 3.29), all of which fall within 1 standard deviation of the total mean. Although there may have been some difference in the participant’s year in school, they had similar music experiences, which may be why there were no significant differences in SEMA scores for their grades.

Peer Comparisons and Future Ensemble Participation

The third research question for this study asked, “Does self-perception affect peer comparisons or intended participation in future ensembles?” I compared participant responses of peer comparison and ensemble participation to the participants’ majors rather than self-esteem because there was no significant difference between major and SEMA score. There was no significant difference between music education and nonmusic education majors when comparing themselves with their college peers. It is possible that there is no significant difference between the two populations because participants perform in ability-based ensembles. For instance, music education majors typically participated in higher level ensembles than nonmusic education majors, and therefore compared themselves with peers of similar ability levels.

The data showed significant differences in comparisons of participants to their high school peers, themselves 1 year ago, and future music participation. Music education majors were more likely to believe themselves as “above average” when compared with their high school peers. This result corroborates previous research suggesting that when they enter college, students who major in music education perceived themselves to be stronger musicians than their peers and placed a high value on their music participation (Councill, 2004; Elpus & Abril, 2019; McPherson & O’Neill, 2010). Music education majors were also more likely to believe themselves better musicians than they were a year ago. This finding is likely explained by the fact that music education majors are under more scrutiny concerning their performance abilities than their nonmusic education peers. Music education students, for instance, have playing exams on their major instrument at the end of each semester, take weekly private lessons, and participate in more ensembles where they might have more opportunities for self-comparison. Additionally, students in music education programs tend to review their teaching and playing using written or spoken self-reflections, so they might be more familiar with self-assessment and reflection than nonmusic majors.

The significant differences in self-comparison should be considered concerning year in school as well as major. Because more nonmusic education participants were in their first and second years of college compared with music education participants, they might not feel as confident comparing themselves with their high school peers or to themselves a year ago. Additionally, freshmen and sophomores might not have had as much time for self-reflection in a college ensemble setting, especially since their collegiate ensemble experiences had been largely shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most, if not all, of their ensembles have been smaller than they typically would be, shortened to decreased aerosol transmissions (Volckens et al., 2020), and were either completely virtual or a hybrid of virtual and in-person learning (Hash, 2021). Junior and senior participants, however, may have had several years of experience in a “typical” ensemble setting, which might have given them an advantage in self-reflection and self-comparison.

The data also showed a significant difference between planned music participation of music education and nonmusic education majors. Participants in the study were asked about their plans to participate in ensembles in the next semester, the next academic year, and after graduating from college. Because music education majors are required to participate in ensembles every semester until they student teach, the first two questions were not included in the data analysis to reduce bias. The significant difference in music participation after graduation showed that music education majors are more likely to plan to participate in an ensemble after graduation than nonmusic education majors. One might expect nonmusic education majors to be more likely to participate in ensembles after they graduate because they had already sought out music experiences outside of their major, although the findings did not support this expectation. Part of the reason for these results may be related to the awareness of opportunities in both groups. Music education majors might be more familiar with community ensembles outside of an academic setting, giving them more incentive to participate in one. Again, students’ year in school may have factored into this difference. Because the music education students were older, they might be thinking more about their careers and situations following graduation than their younger, nonmusic education counterparts. Results suggest that music directors, both at the high school and college levels, should help students become aware of community-based opportunities for performing in ensembles following college graduation.

Limitations

While exploring the data, I discovered that inadequate sampling skewed the data by major; more nonmusic education majors were freshmen and sophomores, whereas more music education majors were juniors and seniors. The skewed data became a limitation to the study, as any reports of year in school discrepancies on SEMA score would need to be considered by major, which was insignificant. In a replication of the study, researchers should be aware of creating an even distribution of music education and nonmusic education majors across all four years of college. Researchers might also consider recruiting participants from a smaller age sample, such as a study of only freshmen or seniors, to further examine how specific ages relate to music self-esteem.

Another limitation of the study, as previously mentioned, was the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the ensembles that were available to students who participated in this study. To decrease aerosol transmission, ensemble sizes were limited (Volckens et al., 2020). During the Fall 2020 semester, many students who usually attended class in person at the university opted for a semester of virtual learning, thus further limiting the participants for the study. Students’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic may have altered their perceptions of themselves as musicians or their music self-esteem and comparisons. Even though this limitation was unavoidable, it is important to note the effects it may have had. Future research might compare a study of students’ music self-esteem during the pandemic to music self-esteem after the pandemic to see if there are any differences in how students perceived themselves as musicians during such unprecedented times.

Implications for Music Educators

The findings of this study suggest several implications for music educators, but especially secondary and postsecondary educators. At all levels, music educators should consider the music self-esteem of their students. Although some research suggested that students with high music self-esteem are the students who initially participate in ensembles (Austin, 1990; Demorest et al., 2017), teachers should work to increase the music self-esteem of all students to improve retention across grade levels. High school music directors should consider not only the self-esteem of the students in their ensembles but also factors that contribute to self-esteem and retention to encourage students to continue in music past high school (Elpus & Abril, 2019; McPherson & O’Neill, 2010). High school music directors, as suggested in other research (Amundson, 2012; McDavid, 1999), might want to consider developing relationships with local college and university music programs to help increase participation of nonmusic majors in ensembles, similar to recruitment strategies used between elementary, middle, and high schools. Likewise, high school directors can help build relationships between community ensembles and their high school ensembles to create an awareness of lifelong music-making opportunities.

At the collegiate level, directors should consider what factors cause students to continue or discontinue with music programs in college and then assess the relationship of those factors to music self-esteem (Amundson, 2012; Demorest et al., 2017; Moder, 2018). One such factor might include auditioned versus nonauditioned ensembles and opportunities. One finding from the current study suggests that when students are placed in ensembles appropriate to their ability levels, they feel comparable to their peers. Positive peer comparison might lead to increased music self-esteem and could be a suggestion for future research, both in high school and college ensembles. Another factor for college directors to consider is the audition process to enter into a music or music education major. School requirements and student history should be considered in addition to music ability to provide all students an equitable chance at success in a university music program. Future studies might also provide more research on music major audition processes, and how these processes relate to self-selection and music self-esteem.

Many factors led to students’ decisions to major in music education or to participate in college-level ensembles; music self-esteem is simply one factor among many. All music teachers should consider the context of their classrooms and the needs of their individual students to promote the highest possible global and music self-esteem in their ensembles for each student. Teachers should also work to make ensembles a place where students are motivated and feel included so that they feel confident in continuing their pursuit of life-long music making.

Supplemental Material

sj-pdf-1-upd-10.1177_87551233211043438 – Supplemental material for Effects of Music Self-Perception on Music Education and Nonmusic Majors’ Ensemble Participation

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-upd-10.1177_87551233211043438 for Effects of Music Self-Perception on Music Education and Nonmusic Majors’ Ensemble Participation by Deanna Nicole Herb in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Deanna Nicole Herb

Supplemental Material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

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