Music constitutes one of the most leisure activity of people’s lives and it is integrated into it in a very deep way, so much that it is particularly well situated to afford opportunities for the construction of gender identity. It is very difficult to draw conclusions regarding the way music is used in relation to gender identity alone, since it crosses with other aspects of identity such as generation, socio-financial status, age, ethnicity, and so on. However it is possible to identify general processes by which music determines the construction of gender identities: through educational experiences, through musical preferences, through musical activities we participate in, and through our views about we consider appropriate behaviours for men and women. The music education profession remains remarkably stable in its structures and beliefs in terms of gender, although research demonstrates an historical segregation related to instruments choice, occupations, musical activities and pedagogical materials. Exclusionary practices constrain musical and educational growth for music education students and teachers, as well as the profession itself, but in fact they don’t disappear. Music’s power to perpetuate gender prejudices can not be underestimated by educators who should consider that gender policies in terms of music can be modified not only through musical experiences or alternative contents, but also through the meaning of music and musical experience in themselves. For this reason it is essential to make future music teachers understand that every curriculum is ideologically determined and that the incorporation of gender to music affects our awareness, affects ourselves and the construction of our notions of feminity and masculinity. The repetition of traditionally gender influenced musical experiences which we have “inherited” should make us reflect on the importance of university training, which is decisive in the construction of individual identity in future teachers, dealing with questions of gender with a comprehensive approach which includes educational activities. Gender studies related to Musical Education, and specifically to the training of music teachers, are essential so that instead of being “invisible”, gender becomes an object of constant critical reflection at the core of the educational system and the society which shape this gender. With the aim of revealing the explicit gender learning which takes place in the university context in which I work, this paper presents the results of a field study on the training of teachers who were majoring in Musical Education at the Faculty of Education at the University of Granada.

With the aim of revealing the explicit gender learning which takes place in the university context in which I work, I have developed a field study on the training of teachers who were majoring in Musical Education at the Faculty of Education at the University of Granada. The questions which motivated this research were the following: o Do students receive information on gender? o Do they consider that it is important to receive this information? In what ways? o Does their university training help them to overcome stereotypes based on gender? o Are musical experiences and the processes of teaching-learning marked by gender? The instruments which were used in this research are the following: - Analysis of data on student registration in the speciality of Musical Education. - Review of the curriculum for Education in this speciality. - Discussion groups composed of students from different years of Musical Education in which we have encouraged debate and presentation of ideas regarding the processes of teaching-learning which take place in the university context and their relation to questions of gender. - Semi-structured interviews which have dealt with gender relations and education from the perspective of the student.

Gender policies in terms of music can be modified not only through musical experiences or alternative contents, but also through the meaning of music and musical experience in themselves, and for this reason, I believe that it is essential to make future music teachers understand that every curriculum is ideologically determined and that the incorporation of gender to music affects our awareness, affects ourselves and the construction of our notions of femininity and masculinity. The repetition of traditionally gender influenced musical experiences which we have inherited should make us reflect on the importance of university training, which is decisive in the construction of individual identity in future teachers, dealing with questions of gender with a comprehensive approach which includes educational activities. Gender studies related to Musical Education, and specifically to the training of music teachers, are essential so that instead of being invisible, gender becomes an object of constant critical reflection at the core of the educational system and the society which shape this gender.