ABSTRACT
Cathy is entering her 22nd year as a high school band director. She is 52 years old, white, and an alumna of Brownington High School where she now teaches. Female band directors are severely underrepresented in higher education and secondary instrumental music positions. Female band directors work in a world where traditional masculinity is expected and rewarded and femininity is regularly criticized, silenced, and rejected. Despite her efforts to perform expected masculine behaviors, Cathy often felt silenced and ignored by males in power. In order to fulfill her teaching and professional responsibilities and advocate for her high-performing program, Cathy made many personal and family sacrifices. Cathy employed a variety of coping strategies that helped and continue to help her navigate the demands of the profession and the pressures of her position as one of the few female band directors in her area.
