Monika Rak studied Music and Religious Education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the University of Vienna. She has extensive teaching experience in diverse school forms, focusing on Music Education, Creative Expression, Choir Singing, and Religious Studies.
Her educational work emphasizes interdisciplinary and international projects, such as the Erasmus initiative "Being Different – Together" with cross-national school choirs, and projects centered on Women Composers.
As organizer and lecturer, Monika Rak has also contributed to teacher trainings on Ethics and Responsibility in Journalism for the KPH Vienna/Krems and the association Media in School and Training. She has published various teaching materials in this context.
She completed further training in Global Learning, Individual Learning Support, and holds certification as a School Development Consultant.
Since November 2022, Monika Rak has been a University Assistant in the Department of Music Education Research and Practice. Her research focuses on the representation and recognition of women composers and their works in school music curricula, textbooks, and digital teaching resources.

rak@mdw.ac.at
 

Female Composers and Their Works in Music Education Materials – Determinants of Gender Inequality and Their Transformability. An Interview Study Based on the Grounded Theory Methodology.

My research addresses the audibility and visibility of female composers in music education materials and examines how determinants of gender inequality and their potential for change can be identified at the level of these materials. Methodologically, it draws on Grounded Theory and Adele Clarke’s situational analysis. Problem-centered interviews will be conducted and analyzed with stakeholders such as publishers, textbook authors, teacher educators, and practicing teachers.
A potential application of the study’s findings is the development of a model for integrating gender-reflective strategies into music education materials. One conceptual framework for this is Katharina Debus’ threefold model of dramatization, de-dramatization, and non-dramatization. In particular, the approach of non-dramatization could be employed subversively to enhance the audibility and visibility of female composers and their works in music education, with the explicit aim of embedding gender awareness and fostering didactic diversity.