High School Music Participation: The Role of Identity, Value, Expectancy, and Cost

While secondary music programs enjoy participation from many students, school music enrollment often does not reflect the demographics of the broader student population. This study examined how high-school students’ musical identities and sociocognitive beliefs influenced their intentions to enroll in high-school music classes. Drawing on situated expectancy-value theory, we developed a model of how musical identity and expectancy-value constructs influence students’ enrollment decisions in three music classes: large ensembles, music technology/production, and piano/guitar. We surveyed 486 students at a large U.S. public high school, measuring musical identity, expectancy-value constructs, and intentions to enroll in each of the three class contexts. Structural equation models showed musical identity positively predicted expectancy and value; expectancy negatively predicted cost; and both value and cost predicted enrollment intentions (positively and negatively, respectively). Notably, expectancy influenced intentions only indirectly via cost. Although both value and cost predicted intentions across all class types, cost was more strongly associated with intentions for large ensembles, whereas value was more strongly associated with intentions for music technology/production and piano/guitar. These findings suggest motivational beliefs are context-dependent and deeply interrelated. Music teachers may benefit from considering the context-specific roles of cost, value, and expectancy when recruiting students for classes.