Motherhood in the Music Education Academy

Issues related to motherhood affect the experiences of women within the academy profoundly and inequitably. Music education--a field in which caring is innately embedded, and which grapples with field-specific musically related gender stereotypes and roles--presents an especially intriguing context for the exploration of motherhood and academia. In this edited collection, Kate Fitzpatrick-Harnish and Bridget Sweet include both scholarly and narrative perspectives on motherhood from a diverse group of authors, delving into a variety of topics such as theoretical perspectives on the intersections between motherhood and the academy, ways in which mothers in music education experience the promotion and tenure system, intersectional experiences of motherhood, motherhood at various stages of academic work in the field, and suggestions for actionable change within the academy.

In amplifying the voices of mothers in the profession, Motherhood in the Music Education Academy provides a scholarly context for motherhood experiences in order to expand notions of motherhood, to embrace and celebrate often invisible caring work that women do in the music education academy, and to ultimately enhance the visibility of mothers in music education while provoking action that supports productive and positive change.

Kate Fitzpatrick-Harnish is Associate Professor of Music and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include arts education equity, urban music education, culturally responsive pedagogy, gender and motherhood in the academy, and mixed methods research. She is the author of Urban Music Education: A Practical Guide for Teachers. Fitzpatrick is the former director of instrumental music at Northland High School in Columbus, Ohio, where she directed the district’s largest band and orchestra program. She is the proud mom of two wonderful children, Carmen (13) and Noelle (11), both born while she was on the tenure track.

Bridget Sweet is Professor of Music Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School and Beyond and Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change in Music Education. Her research interests include middle level choral music education, [assigned at birth] female and male adolescent voice change, musician health and wellness, intersections of LGBTQ+ topics and the music classroom, as well as intersections of motherhood and academia. She is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator through the Association for Body Mapping Education. Both of her children, Luke (12) and Evelyn (10), were born while she was en route to tenure as an Assistant Professor.