Department of Social Science

Women's Studies Resources

What Can I Do With a Women’s Studies Major?

Any employment or entrepreneurial goal requiring an understanding of interpersonal relationships and interaction along social grouping such as gender, race, or class would be enhanced by work in Women’s Studies. Women’s studies enable students to recognize people’s ability to learn, work cooperatively, modify harmful social and structural behaviors, and develop a sense of self and identity.

An undergraduate degree in women’s studies will also help students to prepare for graduate work in a variety of professional degrees, social science and humanistic disciplines.

Women’s Studies and the Job Market - Jobs to Consider:

Entrepreneurial Opportunities - Hospitality and entertainment businesses, services to families, Community services such as counseling, diversity training, fund raising, equal opportunity training, youth programs and camps.

Social and Political activism - Mediation and counseling - political action groups; community organizations funded at the community, state, and federal level aimed at helping the underprivileged, under-represented, neglected, and abused;  counseling and legal representation for cases concerning child welfare, rape, domestic violence, etc.

Industry - Human relations, hiring/negotiation/ legal services/ workplace counseling and training, hospice and hospital counseling.

Non-Governmental Organizations – United Nations’ local and regional offices, Faith based care organizations, National and International Red Cross, Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, US AID, Greenpeace.

Criminal Justice system -   From law school to prevention: policing, justice work, research and services for victims.

Resource websites in Women's Studies

Women's Studies/ Women's Issues Resource Sites - Maintained by Joan Korenman at the University of Maryland, this is "the grandmother of all Women's Studies websites," meaning the largest, oldest collection of gender-related information on the continent, if not on the Web altogether. We've linked here first to the scholarly resources page, but we also recommend her list of Programs in Feminist and/or Women's Studies, the Center for Women & Information Technology, Financial Aid & Job Resources, and various other subsites.

University of Wisconsin - The Women's Studies Librarian - An excellent site with a nationally comprehensive bibliography on gender issues.  If it's printed, or it's online, you'll find it indexed here. Highly recommended for undergraduate researchers.

Sisterhood is Global Institute

This is an international NGO with Consultative Status to the United Nations, founded in 1984. The site offers a global compendium of international organizations focusing on gender issues, sources for service-oriented organizations, and many other valuable resources.

Women welders leave work after a long day at the factory during World War II.
Photo from the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress.