Gendered role assignment and musical self-efficacy in extracurricular music education: hidden curriculum pathways to inclusion and equity.

Gender-based disparities in musical role assignment and self-efficacy have been documented across educational contexts, yet the association between perceived role allocation and self-evaluative beliefs remains insufficiently specified in extracurricular music settings. Using cross-sectional survey data from 312 university students enrolled in extracurricular music classes, this study examined whether gender schema internalization (GSI) statistically accounted for part of the association between perceived role assignment (PRA) and musical self-efficacy (MSE), and whether this indirect association differed by gender. Female students reported lower perceived role assignment, less equitable teacher and peer climate perceptions, higher gender schema internalization, and lower musical self-efficacy. Bootstrap analyses indicated a significant indirect association from PRA to MSE through GSI [B = 0.098, 95% CI (0.051, 0.152)], and a stronger conditional indirect effect among female than male students (female B = 0.105, male B = 0.038). A supplementary serial model suggested that perceived teacher fairness was linked to self-efficacy primarily through role-allocation perceptions and, secondarily, through the sequential PRA-GSI chain, whereas the direct TBP-GSI-MSE path was weak. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that gendered role perceptions may become linked to self-evaluative beliefs partly through internalized gender-role schemas. Because the study relied on cross-sectional self-report data, the findings should be interpreted as association patterns rather than evidence of causal sequence.