Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe attributes of a sample of current music therapy students in the United States. A total of 53 questions were designed and electronically mailed to music therapy students (N=841) who were registered in the 2008 American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) database as a student. Of these, only 202 survey responses met criteria for inclusion in the study and were analyzed (27.1%). Data described (a) demographic distribution of music therapy students; (b) musical background; (c) key motivating factors in choosing the music therapy major and how the students first knew about music therapy; (d) international students’ motivation to study music therapy in the U.S and their difficulties; (e) academic interests; (f) career aspirations and goals; and (g) personal characteristics that related to the qualifications to be a potential music therapist. Results indicated that the greatest amount of respondents were characterized as undergraduate (51%), female (89.6%), age 21-24 (56.9%), Caucasian (84.2%), and U.S citizen (94.1%). In regard to music therapy, respondents had family with a background in music (68.8%), voice as an applied instrument (35.1%), a desire to help others with music (83.7%), introduction to music via television or internet (16.8%). With reference to international students (5.9%), almost half were attracted to music therapy due to the strong reputation of music therapy in the United States (41.6%), although many had difficulties with the English language (50%). With regard to program studies, psychology (56.9%) and music education (25.2%) were chosen as the most preferred general required and music subjects, whereas physiology (23.3%) and music history (27.7%) were selected as the least preferred subjects. In terms of occupational goals, respondents aspired to be directors or supervisors in clinical settings (29.2%) and owners of private practice (29.2%). Personality traits and self-perceived confidence of respondents indicated that the majority were well-suited to be a music therapist.
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