What Can I Do With My Degree? - Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

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What can I do with a Women’s Studies Degree?

A degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies can prepare you for a wide variety of graduate or professional programs including law school, medical school, MA programs, and Ph.D. programs.

In addition, a degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies can prepare you for employment in a wide variety of fields including business, education, politics, social services, and media and the arts.

In a study performed on Women’s Studies graduates (Luebke and Reilly 1995), researchers found that the graduates held a wide variety of specific positions, including:

University professor
Elementary or high school teacher
Physician
Legislator
Journalist
Lawyer
Nurse, Nurse-midwife
Public relations manager
Librarian
Psychotherapist
Film-casting director
Union organizer
Chiropractor
Novelist

Artist
Musician
Actor
Health clinic coordinator
Small-business owner
Clinical social worker
Medical administrator
Legislative aide, lobbyist
Advocate for domestic violence survivors
Television writer
Energy conservation manager
HIV educator

On Campus Resources:

The Office of Personal and Career Development is a wonderful resource. The Department encourages students to start working with the staff early in their undergraduate careers.

The contact for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies students is:

Shan Woolard
Assistant Director of Career Education and Coaching
woolarsl@wfu.edu

Other Resources:

Ms. Magazine: “Transform The World: What you can do with a degree in women’s studies”

Ms. Magazine: “What I’m Doing With My Women’s Studies Degree”

PowerPoint – Career Options for Women’s Studies Majors by Amy Hoag, Career Center at the University of Michigan

Handout – Women’s Studies: What Can I Do With This Major? By the Career Planning staff of Career Services at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Dever, Maryanne and Day, Liz (2001). Beyond the Campus: Some Initial Findings on Women’s Studies, Careers and Employers. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 2(2), 53-66.
(contact department for a copy)

Dever, Maryanne (2004). “Women’s studies and the discourse of vocationalism: Some new perspectives.” Women’s Studies International Forum, 27(5): 475–488.
(Available through the ZSR Library)

Dever, M. (2003). How students characterise the vocational gains from women’s studies (or, why we need not be anxious). Hecate, 29(2), 34-49.
(Available through the ZSR Library)

Luebke, B. F., & Reilly, M. E. (1995). Women’s Studies Graduates: The First Generation. New York: Teachers College Press.
(contact department for a copy)