Research Project on Orchestras, discriminations and gender – PRODIGE

This research is at the crossroads of several questions: measuring discrimination in selection and hiring procedures, evaluating the expected and unexpected effects of blind auditions, and analyzing the gender inequalities in the music performance sector. It will be based on two axes. The quantitative approach focuses on the measurement of discrimination and the analysis of the effect of the recruitment procedure on the profile of candidates who applied and, on the persons being hired. The qualitative approach is based on the socio-historical aspects of the recruitment process in orchestras and on professional equality within orchestras. Four data sources will be set up: an individual database from the contests; a historical database on the feminization of orchestras; a database on the composition of juries and on the different recruitment procedures; and finally, a source of qualitative data based on archives and interviews. The project is led by two teams covering the skills necessary to carry out the project: skills in statistics, gender studies, discrimination analysis, musicology and sociology of music. This research will make it possible to document a point that has not yet been fully explored: the effect of selection procedures on the pool of candidates.

We use data from competitions held by partner orchestras to identify gender biases in jury decisions. The high degree of gender segregation across instruments, as well as the heterogeneity of audition procedures among orchestras, provide a relevant context to analyze the role of gender stereotypes in decision-making. We compare decisions made during blind auditions with those made during non-anonymous auditions, taking into account the gender of the candidates and the level of gender segregation associated with their instrument. We estimate a mixed-effects logistic regression model. When a screen is used to conceal the candidates, a woman (or a man) is more likely to be selected for an instrument predominantly played by men (or women) than a man (or a woman). Conversely, when the jury can see the candidates play, it tends to favor musicians whose gender is dominant among performers of that instrument.

Using both qualitative and quantitative data, we compare the discourse of orchestra managers regarding the expected effect of blind auditions—particularly in terms of increasing the number of women in the profession—with the actual recruitment data collected over the past decade from the same orchestras. The contrast between the assumed and actual effects of the screen sheds light on how representatives of orchestral institutions perceive and explain their recruitment practices, and on the effectiveness of proactive anti-discrimination policies.

The team plans to continue analyzing the quantitative database in order to go beyond measuring gender bias in jury decisions. The aim is to compare the profiles of selected candidates depending on whether the screen was used throughout the entire audition process, during only a few rounds, or not at all.

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Since the 1970’s, orchestras have recruited more and more female musicians. Despite this trend, women are still under represented among orchestra musicians. These gender inequalities might be due to discriminations. Testing this hypothesis requires distinguishing between what is due to discriminatory factors (gender, race, age...), and what is due to difference in skills. The recruitment of musicians is specific as the quality of the applicant can be estimated without seeing the person. In some orchestras, the selection from one round to another relies on a blind audition: the person performs behind a screen. This process was initially introduced to limit the collusion between students and their professors, and to increase impartiality during the hiring process. This type of procedure constitutes a potential tool of diversification of the profile of the recruited persons and finally a tool to tackle discrimination by hiding the identity of applicants.
Using blind auditions in French orchestras as an experimental field, the PRODIGE project aims at answering the following questions: Do blind auditions constitute a more impartial hiring process? To what extend blind auditions reveal a discrimination process against women and other categories underrepresented in orchestras? Are blind auditions an efficient hiring process to tackle discriminations? To what extend blind auditions imply a modification of the pool of applicants and their characteristics? What are the drivers for changes in the hiring process in orchestras? To what extend gender equality matters in the musical sector? What are the effects of the jurys’ composition and the rules applied during each round on the profile of the hired persons?
This research is at the crossroad of several questionings: measuring discrimination during the hiring process, evaluating the expected and unexpected effects of blind auditions, analyzing gender inequalities in the musical sector. This research will rely to two articulated pillars: The first one deals with measuring statistically the discrimination and analyzing the effect of selection rules on the profile of the recruited persons and on the profile of the applicants to the contest. The second pillar relies on a qualitative approach of the hiring process in orchestras; it will also propose a socio-historic analysis of this type of recruitment in the musical sector and finally it will deal with gender equality policy and its presence or absence within orchestras as a major stake.
Four data sets will be created: a statistical data base on musical contests; a database on feminization of French orchestras in the long run; a data base on the jury’s composition; and finally qualitative data set based on interviews realized with major stakeholders in orchestras, and data based on archives. The project is carried by two teams covering all skills required to conduct this research: statistical skills, gender studies knowledge, skills in discriminations process analysis and in musicology and sociology of the music sector. In particular, this research will document an original topic: the effect of the type of selection process on the profiles of applicants. More broadly it will enrich the public debate on blind auditions in a context in which anonymous CV and testing are more and more used in the workplace. Results will provide insights concerning the efficient policies to tackle discrimination, shared with stakeholders involved in this field (Ministry of Labor and the Défenseur des droits). Finally, the results will shed light on the topic of gender inequality in the musical sector and it will enlighten the role of orchestras in the societies and the role of musicians in terms of citizenship.