International Journal of Education & the Arts

Citation: Zimmerman Nilsson, M.-H. and Borgström Källén, C. (2026). ‘The whole world is there to relate to’: An actor network analysis of the conditions needed for gender equality in music education. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 27(11). http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea27n11

In music education research, gender inequality in the Western music classroom is a well-known and considerable problem. By applying a posthuman theoretical framework and a non-hierarchical ontology, this paper seeks a different perspective on traditional gender structures in music education. The aim is to investigate which actors, networks and entanglements are at play when music practitioners discuss gender equality between males and females in the music classroom, and to consider why envisioning a gender-equal music classroom is complex. Based on an actor-network analysis of interviews, the findings reveal that polarized networks with intertwined discursive actors diminish the variety of views on gender. This hinders an inclusive way of envisioning gender becomings in the music classroom that is not already role modelled in the surrounding society. Hence, the networks in play seem to have an impact on the possibility of envisioning a gender-equal music classroom.