Women in audio engineering...

[jrhager84]

This will not end well...

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[Howie J]

Probably all of the above. I know there was a (fairly lengthy) thread that was started a couple years ago about this. You might have to dig a little in the search results.

Ironically, women have statistically better hearing then men...by quite a bit. Seems like those that dedicated them selves do really well. It's just getting through all the sexist BS in the industry. Just like Danica Patrick in racing or women CEO's....glass ceilings are everywhere.

[Strange Leaf]

Maybe there are just not so many female geeks around. There is nothing between the legs needed to be a great engineer or producer. I assume they are just not as interested.

[Stackx]

Yea there's very few that are interested and then even fewer that make it. It's a tuff career and there's a difference between working as a engineer at a studio and being a famous engineer. I'm sure there are women engineers everywhere but only a few have the strength to stand above the rest.

[Lotus 7]

Women engineers/producers have been successful in the classical world (10-time Grammy nominee/winner Judith Sherman comes to mind) and are gradually gaining a "foothold" in the ultra-competitive pop world. She and many others prove that if a person has the inclination, motivation and talent they can do well.

There is a Nashville Scene Article that addresses this quite well.

[Nathan Redmond]

Originally Posted by Poisonflame

Hi, I study Audio Engineering and have looked around my classes and noticed that there are not a lot of females in the course, so I have done a little further research and would like to know others opinions on why are there so few females in the areas of Audio Engineering and Production? Is it about interest in such a field? or the attitudes within the existing industry that is acting as a deterrent?

Cheers!

You should check out the Women's Audio Mission.
A cool non-profit hoping to change the face of the audio industry. Women's Audio Mission

[AlinaStjerna]

I don't think there's really a need to even ask this question, we don't live in a completely androgynous world, the genders will always be divided when it comes to interests. I wonder whether there is a hairdressing forum out there with a girl starting a thread ''There's only one guy in my class, is this odd??? I wonder why.''

Not that I speak for everyone but audio engineering doesn't really interest me, I like to write and perform, audio engineering (in the broadest sense) is just a means to be able to produce a product for myself, I really wouldn't care for it if it wasn't my own music. Though saying that I am often asked to do such things for other people, it's not a direction I pursue, but no freelancer turns down work!

Originally Posted by Stackx

Yea there's very few that are interested and then even fewer that make it. It's a tuff career and there's a difference between working as a engineer at a studio and being a famous engineer. I'm sure there are women engineers everywhere but only a few have the strength to stand above the rest.

I don't think you really need to make the point that the fewer people who pursue a career the fewer who will be successful at it, and you certainly can't use that to try and make an argument towards men just simply being better. Female audio engineers aren't everywhere which is why there aren't as many successful ones, but this is the kind of attitude that does make it tough for women.

It was only yesterday I was let off of a job for no reason, recording the audio for a string quartet concert video. It had all been planned for a couple of weeks, the director was on the phone to the client, it was mentioned that I (the person who was going to record it) was there, and so the client asked to speak to me so he could highlight somethings I might want to consider. There was an obvious ''Umm.. Ohh.'' after I said hello, he briefly mentioned a few trivial factors to consider, I said it was all fine and that was it. A couple of hours later I had been replaced. ''Not that I don't trust she can do a good job, I just want to guarantee a good job is done.''

[kiopo]

Whilst I think it is male-centric in a lot of ways within the industry, the fact is that not many women want to do it in the first place. Very rarely do you get applications for those courses from women, and generally if you do they're likely to be accepted if they meet the basic criteria. The few women I've known who have pursued it have actually risen much quicker than their male counterparts.

I don't really want to use yet another comparison between audio engineering and plumbing, being a mechanic or driving a taxi, but.. :-P

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by Nathan Redmond

You should check out the Women's Audio Mission.
A cool non-profit hoping to change the face of the audio industry. Women's Audio Mission

[Ghosted]

The only one I know around here is Georgia, a professional engineer who moderates the Post Production Forum.

[sameal]

there was a few girls in the class before mine and a girl in the class i took when i went to school. they do exist. why are they not in abundance? could be because it's a dieing industry....

[Ghosted]

Originally Posted by sameal

there was a few girls in the class before mine and a girl in the class i took when i went to school. they do exist. why are they not in abundance? could be because it's a dieing industry....

It was never a "growing" industry... It was an industry of dreamers since the beginning.

[sameal]

Originally Posted by Ghosted

It was never a "growing" industry... It was an industry of dreamers since the beginning.

very true. but opportunity's have gotten vastly slimmer for such dreamers..

more like a gladiator pit...six starved lions and you kind of situation

[Ghosted]

Originally Posted by sameal

very true. but opportunity's have gotten vastly slimmer for such dreamers..

more like a gladiator pit...six starved lions and you kind of situation

And yours too.

[sameal]

Originally Posted by Ghosted

And yours too.

i didn't mean "you" specifically. hell i don't even know you! but yes, isn't it obvious? i was eaten by the lion.

[DrewHulva]

Leslie Ann Jones. She came to Columbia College a week ago and spoke about her life as well as women in the industry. She works at Skywalker. Three time Grammy award winner. She is an amazing lady. She came into my Architectural Acoustics class while getting a tour of the facilities and I talked to her for a minute. Very humble. Can't say enough about her.

[Louis_Diaz]

Maybe cause they are not perfectionists enough ?? this is a very tough domain.

Besides ... the fastest male sprinters in the world always ran faster than the fastest female sprinters in the world ... like it or not it's a fact :D

Let's just enjoy women in the fields they really excel like ............ drama and talking just for the sake of taking ? jk

[musicl]

Doesn't matter if you're a man or woman. Just if you care enough to be a GS and oogle you're 1176's more than cars, baseball and lipstick.

[Fred.Kevorkian]

Maybe it's in the way females are conceived

[Noidea.]

Anybody heard of this lady. Defiantly the exception but . http://www.sonicscoop.com/2009/12/16...ging-director/

[Lotus 7]

Originally Posted by Louis_Diaz

Maybe cause they are not perfectionists enough ...

You must be joking, or living on a different planet than I am.
Women not perfectionists.

Maybe it's because they're smarter and know better.

[Noidea.]

Originally Posted by Lotus 7

You must be joking, or living on a different planet than I am.
Women not perfectionists.

Maybe it's because they're smarter and know better.

Lol

[proaudiogirl]

Long response but female perspective -

I think there's a few factors. The people at the top of the field now were probably in school 20 years ago or more. Back then, there weren't many audio programs and you were learning on the job, plus the rite of passage working at a studio... there were probably not many women trying and even fewer breaking through. I think that's why there's not a lot of female Frank Filipettis or Phil Ramones out there (Leslie Ann Jones might be the closest)

By contrast, when I was in college 10 years ago, there were 5 women and 4 men in my graduating class (in a Music Production major). I had a Protools rig at home and was pretty fast right out of school, so I had some skills that helped me find work right away.

Even if you have the skills and degree, it takes a certain personality type to survive in the field. Just yesterday I had a session where I was mixing and I had 5 male clients in the room with me. It's a delicate balance - You have to prove that you know what you're doing, get them to look at you like one of the guys, and still run a session. It can be a challenge when you have a client who has never seen a woman in the studio other than bringing them coffee.

That's not even bringing in the factors of stress, late hours, sometimes having to prioritize work over family and friends, etc... I think a lot of men and women who get audio degrees decide the lifestyle isn't for them once they get in the field.

The good news is that in my 10 years in the field, I'm meeting more women all the time. We're pretty supportive of each other, too. I would not be surprised if we start recognizing more women engineers in the upcoming years. It really takes time to hone your craft, and a lot of gals will be stepping up and taking on some high profile projects.

(By the way - LinkedIn has some groups for women in audio. Definitely check them out!)

[JackOfAllTradez]

After I finished my first internship a couple months ago, I had to train a new intern, and it was a female.
So even if there aren't a lot of women in the top tier of engineers just yet, there are definitely women who are interested in the field and are trying to make their way up. The number of women engineers will definitely rise with time, I'm sure.

Even more surprising, she came from Full Male…*cough* I mean Full Sail.

[Stackx]

Originally Posted by AlinaStjerna

I don't think there's really a need to even ask this question, we don't live in a completely androgynous world, the genders will always be divided when it comes to interests. I wonder whether there is a hairdressing forum out there with a girl starting a thread ''There's only one guy in my class, is this odd??? I wonder why.''

Not that I speak for everyone but audio engineering doesn't really interest me, I like to write and perform, audio engineering (in the broadest sense) is just a means to be able to produce a product for myself, I really wouldn't care for it if it wasn't my own music. Though saying that I am often asked to do such things for other people, it's not a direction I pursue, but no freelancer turns down work!



I don't think you really need to make the point that the fewer people who pursue a career the fewer who will be successful at it, and you certainly can't use that to try and make an argument towards men just simply being better. Female audio engineers aren't everywhere which is why there aren't as many successful ones, but this is the kind of attitude that does make it tough for women.

It was only yesterday I was let off of a job for no reason, recording the audio for a string quartet concert video. It had all been planned for a couple of weeks, the director was on the phone to the client, it was mentioned that I (the person who was going to record it) was there, and so the client asked to speak to me so he could highlight somethings I might want to consider. There was an obvious ''Umm.. Ohh.'' after I said hello, he briefly mentioned a few trivial factors to consider, I said it was all fine and that was it. A couple of hours later I had been replaced. ''Not that I don't trust she can do a good job, I just want to guarantee a good job is done.''

Sorry but I think you read my post wrong. By saying only a few have the strength to stand above the rest was not meant to be sexiest or because she's a girl an men are superior. I was saying out of all engineers, men & women, theirs very few out of the millions that have what it takes to be well known in this industry.

[jrhager84]

Quite ironic, as most women have better hearing than men.

It's just a simple interest issue. Most women just aren't interested. No biggie.

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[groovedaddyT]

I don't think gender matters. If you have skills you have the job. I think there are less women because they don't explore the technical jobs, prefering to take jobs they think are more creative. If there was more education to younger women at school they would realize just how creative the job is and follow it as a career path.