The purpose of this study was to explore employment preferences of preservice music teachers through a critical quantitative approach. Building on Robinson’s work in this area, I used adaptive conjoint analysis to revisit these questions while highlighting perspectives of preservice music teachers of color and trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive preservice music teachers. Across 111 undergraduate music education majors from 24 institutions, the two most important factors were (a) welcoming environment and (b) musical expertise. Least important were (a) student SES, and (b) student race/ethnicity. Although results suggest that preservice music teachers were more similar than different, trans, nonbinary and gender-expansive participants placed heightened importance on welcoming environments, while Black preservice music teachers expressed a greater preference for working in schools with predominantly Black students. These preferences underscore the broader role of familiarity and supportive conditions in influencing employment decisions for future music educators.
David R. DeAngelis (Wed,) studied this question.