It is not too difficult to claim, in a cocktail party type of way, that global governance should be more virtuous, and that those who run our lives and our institutions should be decent human beings. That is the easy part, if only because it makes intuitive sense that what could possibly be useful in some settings (professional sports, for example) is not so appropriate in other settings. We accept ruthlessness in our professional athletes – indeed, to the point that it might be difficult for them to become truly exceptional without a ruthless streak. But we do not think that quite the same applies to judges, or high-ranking civil servants, let alone religious leaders. Not even our statespersons, even if we would want them to serve the national interest (whatever that may be), are expected to display quite the same amount or sort of ruthlessness. Michael Jordan and Cristiano Ronaldo may be single-minded and ruthless; the Dalai Lama or the Pope may not, and neither may Germany’s long-serving prime minister Angela Merkel.

Chapter 15, ‘Women and Music Education in Schools: Pedagogues, Curricula, and Role Models’, surveys women’s contribution to music education. Although women in music has gained a steady foothold in university and conservatoire education over the last two decades, music education at school level (this chapter’s focus) has tended to remain fairly conservative. Robert Legg discusses women’s access to the teaching profession, highlighting that, while it has always been relatively open to women, persistent barriers remain, including a lack of women in leadership roles and the gender pay gap. He also critiques the body/mind dualist view of music education, the lack of female role models in many curricula, and recent pedagogical debates of the twenty-first century.