FAQ - NASA CGE

Frequently asked questions

HOW AND WHEN WAS THE CGE FORMED?
At the 2018 NASA Biennial Conference in Cincinnati, OH, a panel discussion on “Committee on the Status of Women” was organized by Kim Loeffert and featured Jackie Lamar, Debra Richtmeyer, Carrie Koffman, Connie Frigo, Jan Baker, Noa Even and Diane Hunger. The panel’s charge was to present the reasons that a committee of this nature was necessary in NASA, and to propose the official creation of such a committee. The Committee on the Status of Women was then voted into existence as a standing committee at the general membership meeting on the final day of the 2018 Biennial Conference. At the online 2022 Biennial, the CSW’s amendment to change its name to the Committee on Gender Equity was voted into the bylaws.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES THE CGE HAS ADDRESSED SO FAR?

Lack of deliberate placement of gender representation in NASA materials.
- This is especially apparent in images on the NASA website, where there is a lack of gender diversity and other aspects of demographic diversity. It is important that NASA’s photos showcase the breadth of its membership and make all members feel like they belong. At the 2020 NASA Biennial Conference, four photographers generously volunteered their services to CSW (now known as CGE) and NASA for the purpose of capturing the greater diversity of NASA membership for use in NASA’s materials.
Low proportion of featured women, transgender, or non-binary people at conferences and in NASA leadership
- The programming at conferences with respect to who presents during the more visible time slots has historically privileged NASA’s male colleagues. This is also the case with the Executive Committee, concerto soloists, and masterclass presenters. Since roughly 30% of NASA members are women, transgender, or non-binary people, these positions should be filled with approximately the same proportion of those genders. The CGE is working with the Executive Committee to find solutions to these inequities.
Lack of women, transgender, or non-binary people saxophonists that advance their professional study of the saxophone
- There is a “leaky pipeline” of women, transgender, or non-binary people that do not advance their professional saxophone study through high school, college, and graduate degrees. This results in a lack of those populations in academia as collegiate professors and scholars, as well as in performance and other professional positions in music. The Community Engagement Project, Mentoring Program, and additional resources in development are aimed at addressing this issue at each of these levels of musicianship.
Lack of NASA membership outside of the United States
- The CGE hopes to increase support for saxophonists across North America through future initiatives, the most fundamental being an effort to communicate in the three official languages of North America in important communications.
Lack of comprehensive demographic data of NASA membership
- The CGE has addressed this through implementing required gender fields when renewing or signing up for NASA membership, approval from the Executive Committee of future gender data collection from conference registrations, and further demographic surveys that increase NASA’s understanding of the makeup of its membership.

WHAT DOES GENDER ADVOCACY LOOK LIKE, AND WHAT SPECIFIC THINGS COULD I BE DOING TO PROMOTE GENDER ADVOCACY?
The cornerstones of advocacy include:

Educating oneself about gender rights, gender inequality, and the existence of gender privilege and implicit gender bias
Remaining humble enough to listen to others and allow for your mind to be changed, also known as cultural humility
Reading the policies that govern the communities to which you belong and proposing gender-based advocacy within them
Involve women, transgender, and non-binary people in your work
Amplify the voices of women, transgender, and non-binary people

Look at your student associations/unions, faculty associations, other unions, employee handbooks, city and state/province policies, and school district student conduct handbooks to see whether and how they address policies around gender and equity. Lobby those organizers (be they politicians, committee members, colleagues, faculty members, or other kinds of representatives) to make change. In our case, this is NASA’s constitution.

Involve men in the endeavor of gender advocacy. Consider studying the work of the He For She movement started by the United Nations or the Men Engage Alliance, an international alliance working with the United Nations and Oxfam.

In our musical work in particular, hold up diverse role models. This includes:
Programming works by diverse composers and encouraging others to do the same
Supporting projects by diverse composers and saxophonists, financially or through other means
Providing your students with recordings by diverse saxophonists
Inviting diverse saxophonists for guest master classes and performances at your school

Talk about gender advocacy regularly with your students. Make discussions of gender equity normal, and make it normal to learn from your mistakes. The less we stigmatize our colleagues who make mistakes, the easier it is to admit wrongdoing and enact change.

Consider the gender breakdown of a group anytime you are in a position to choose people for anything, whether it be sitting on a committee, choosing the recipient(s) of a grant or prize, forming a jury panel, playing a musical part in an ensemble, programming a conference, assigning administrative work. Consider the historical gender breakdown as well. This necessitates bringing up the subject of gender early in these processes.

AS A MAN, I HAVE SEVERAL WOMEN, TRANSGENDER, AND NON-BINARY SAXOPHONE STUDENTS. WHAT ARE SOME WAYS I CAN BE A BETTER MENTOR AND ALLY TO THEM?

Educate yourself on challenges that are unique to women, transgender and non-binary people and students

One of these is “gender-blindness,” the belief that we can make decisions and act without taking gender into account. This idea is harmful because ignoring instances of inequity won’t make them go away, so it is better to address gender inequity than to let it persist.

Educate yourself on implicit gender bias, or associating certain qualities with students based on their gender

Despite our best efforts, we all have unintentional biases that may be reflected in our teaching practices. These can show up in our expectations of women, transgender, and non-binary students, the number and type of leadership opportunities distributed among students of different genders, trends between chamber music assignments and gender, and more.

Examine your studio environment

Beyond your own teaching practice, a studio environment can play a significant role in how women, transgender, and non-binary people experience mentorship. One important question to ask yourself is, “How do students speak about and relate to one another in a gendered way?” This could range from women students being seen as a quartet or studio “mom,” to men students speaking about the studio as a “brotherhood” or having a “bro-culture,” to more explicit instances of sexist or exclusionary rhetoric. Your role as an ally can be to look out for this rhetoric and start the academic year off with clear expectations of your students.

Recognize patterns of gender inequity

The concept that underlies these challenges is that men are in a position where they do not generally have to think about how their gender impacts how they present themselves and how they are viewed. Women, transgender, and non-binary people, however, are keenly aware of how their gender impacts their position in the studio and their identity as saxophonists. The more we normalize the existence of women, transgender, and non-binary people in saxophone, the less they are made to feel abnormal as saxophonists.

Reflect on the role of gender in your teaching practice and make adjustments as you educate yourself and learn through experience

There are a variety of challenges we all face: advising students on performance dress, respecting boundaries for touch in lessons, and more. These issues can be awkward no matter the genders of teacher and student, but a good rule of thumb is to start honest dialogue, communicate clearly, and seek first to understand students’ needs.

Never shy away from these kinds of discussions, and make it clear to all of your students that you value their input on these topics

We all want to be the best teachers we can be, and we want what is best for our students. Part of that is reflecting and taking student input on best practices. Making gender equity a part of that reflection will make you a better mentor and ally.

For further reading, look into the Society for Music Theory’s Committee on the Status of Women Resources. The NASA CGE has developed resources and projects for allyship which can be found on our website under “Resources.”

WHAT CHALLENGES EXIST IN GENDER ADVOCACY?

The need to convince others that there is a problem, and that advocacy and allyship are both needed to solve the problem
- Often, it is the case that people will not work to change a problem if the problem doesn’t affect them personally. This is true of sexism, racism, environmentalism, and so on. Gender inequity is not specific to NASA. So while the CGE is going to keep doing the necessary work to improve gender equity within NASA, we recognize that our advocacy and allyship efforts will empower members of NASA to bring similar initiatives and awareness back to the communities where they live and work, thereby increasing the reach of CGE’s efforts on behalf of all women, transgender, or non-binary people.

WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AS A COMMITTEE?

Harnessing and directing the intense energy of the movement we are in right now to address and improve gender inequity in NASA
- The energy, ideas, and momentum we have are greater than our resources and infrastructure, so we have needed to build an infrastructure from the ground up, which takes time and more resources. This infrastructure includes: creating Bylaws and other operational structures, developing online communication channels, organizing human resources such as CGE members including coordinating our volunteer network, and forming clear initiatives that benefit women, transgender, or non-binary people like the Mentoring Program, the Community Engagement Project, and our Biennial programming efforts. (This work could be a full-time job for all of us!)

The need for patience and understanding as NASA adjusts to its first diversity committee
- The existence of the CGE has advanced necessary conversations with and within the NASA Executive Committee, some of which include discussions of changes in NASA’s programming policies to more deliberately support gender inclusion and equity, and expanding NASA’s diversity efforts to include all underrepresented populations. This undertaking requires setting new priorities and a general rethinking of “how it’s always been done”. To this end, the CGE looks forward to working closely with NASA executive leadership and future programming committees to affect positive change concerning gender equity in all areas of NASA.

WHAT ARE CGE'S LONG RANGE GOALS FOR GENDER EQUITY IN SAXOPHONE?
To empower as many people as possible, of all genders, to become gender advocates and allies so that the need for a conversation around gender inclusion and equity no longer exists, or is at least significantly reduced.

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE BY CGE?
In accordance with CGE’s Bylaws, an activity report must be filed with the Executive Committee every two years in conjunction with the biennial conferences. The report reflects CGE’s work over the course of each two-year term, in addition to its requests to the Executive Committee for further development and support of CGE’s mission. Find CGE’s activity reports here.

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