WHY GENDER STUDIES?
Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the complex interaction of gender with other identity markers such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, nation, and religion. Gender— femininity and masculinity—is such a basic form of social organization that its operation often passes unnoticed. Feminist scholarship demonstrates that traditional categories used for social analysis and their accompanying interpretive approaches often reinforce gender hierarchies and inequalities.
Gender Studies allows you to develop a deeper understanding of Gender Issues because in our complex world employers want:
- Experts in finding and using information on contemporary social issues.
- Specialists with an understanding of differences of gender, sexuality, race, culture, and social class and how these connect and/or intersect.
- Professionals with a deep understanding of the differences in meaning between e.g. Equality and Equity; Tolerance and Acceptance and more.
- Consultants, leaders, teachers etc. with a foundation for analyzing inequities and initiating change.
You will find Gender Specialists everywhere! They work as:
- Administrators of Human Services Department
- Advocates for victims of domestic violence and hate crimes
- Artists
- Associate Directors of human rights organizations
- Business owners
- Clergy
- Communications consultants
- Congressional aides
- Coordinators of women’s health clinics
- Directors of social service agencies
- Executive Director of a foundation
- Film production assistants
- Flight instructors
- Journalists
- Law enforcement officers
- Librarians
- Managers of energy conservation
- Musicians
- Novelists
- Nurse practitioners
- Physicians
- Politicians
- Professors
- Program director of rape crisis centers
- Psychologists or Psychotherapists
- Public health educators
- Public relations directors
- Social workers
- Teachers
- Theater staff
- Union organizers