City Research Online

Abstract

Despite the efforts of organizations to improve the balance of participation in music technology and audio engineering, representation remains low among women and minorities: fewer than 10% of professionals are from these underrepresented groups (UGs). This figure also accurately reflects representation for professionals in immersive audio, based on a review of membership data from multiple organizations.
This lack of representation is in part due to Barriers to Entry and Discouraging Influences (BEDIs) including microaggressions, discrimination, and unequal access to training. Further, interested women and minorities who express interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), music technology, and audio leave earlier and at higher rates than their white male counterparts due to these factors. This has been described as a “leaky pipeline”.
In order to counter these BEDIs, training programmes in STEM, feminist collectives, and affinity groups have proved successful in mitigating BEDIs by providing role models, networking, mentoring, and training in safe, affordable spaces.
Given the success of those programmes, an invitation to a similar training programme in immersive audio was used as the basis for a grounded theory (GT) study to discover the main concerns of participants in immersive audio workshops and how they process those concerns. The study introduces a grounded theory derived from open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 23 participants. Analysis of the data consisted of identifying certain codes and categories; constant comparison of those codes, categories, memos to find patterns and themes; and theoretical sampling. The resulting GT presented in this dissertation is that the main concern of UGs in immersive audio classes is “being viewed as credible”, while “leaking up, not leaking out” of the career pipeline is the core category which explains how they attempt to resolve their concerns. They do this by choosing whether to decipher established codes of credibility or to circumvent these codes by going it on their own, pushing, learning, seeking mentorship, innovating, seeking affinity groups, and teaching.
Suggestions for future work include: refining mentorship and training programmes to meet the specific skills identified by participants; identifying “leak points” in the career path; widening studies on participation by including UGs working outside of the major studios that create and distribute music, games, movies, and television content; and shifting the perspectives of gatekeepers who are in a position to modify their recruiting and hiring practices by examining unconscious bias and issues of trust and credibility. Incorporating these strategies have the potential to reshape diversity, equity, and inclusion in immersive audio.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Publisher Keywords:	DEI, Women, Audio, Immersive
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform M Music and Books on Music
Departments:	School of Communication & Creativity School of Communication & Creativity > Performing Arts
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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