Women's and Gender Studies

Advocating for Social Equality & Justice

The Bachelor of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary education that equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to advocate for social equality and justice. Through a diverse curriculum that explores historical, cultural, political, and economic aspects of gender, identity, and sexuality, students develop a deep understanding of systemic inequalities and the strategies to address them. This program fosters critical thinking, empathy, and leadership, preparing graduates for careers in advocacy, education, law, social work, public policy, and many other fields where they can contribute to meaningful change in society.

Our Academic Program

The Women’s and Gender Studies major prepares a student to make a difference in the world by emphasizing both theory and practice. Students gain the skills to identify, critically analyze, and devise solutions to systemic, intersecting forms of discrimination and inequality that disadvantage groups on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, ability, age, class, religion, and nationality.

Opportunities

Women’s and Gender Studies students seize on learning opportunities outside of the traditional classroom, including our mentoring course that takes place in a local middle school, our courses in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, internships with community non-profit organizations, and the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Many students double major in Women’s and Gender Studies and another discipline that prepares them for a specific career in which a critical understanding of gender and sexuality is necessary (for example, Social Work, Psychology, Education, and Criminology). At 30 credit hours, the Women’s and Gender Studies major can be easily combined with another major.

Student Involvement

Through internships students gain professional experience in a variety of possible organizational settings while meeting the organization's needs, and sharing a gendered lens on the issues. Students also have the opportunity for work-study employment in the Women's and Gender Studies department.

Women's and Gender Studies majors can also participate in a variety of student organizations which help to develop lifelong personal and professional relationships.

Careers & Job Market Outlook

Women’s and Gender Studies students succeed in a wide range of career fields because our major is interdisciplinary and includes courses in Africology and African American Studies, Business, Communication, Criminology, History, Legal Studies, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Work, and Sociology.  Upon graduation, Women’s and Gender Studies majors often go on to positions in the non-profit sector, working as advocates, organizers, research analysts, and program directors. Our graduates also frequently go on to graduate school and find positions in academia.