What Can I Do with My Women’s and Gender Studies Major?

Using cross-cultural and multi-racial perspectives, students majoring in women’s and gender studies explore women’s lives, labor and arts, the politics of sexuality, the structural, institutional, legal, and historical meanings of gender, the impact of gendered analysis on the sciences and much more. They engage with concepts and debates in contemporary feminist theory and critical theories of gender and sexuality as they intersect with race, ethnicity, class, religion, nationality, and geopolitical and regional specificities.

In doing so, students develop the ability to explore and engage critical and historical concepts and to apply them to discussion, debate, academic research, academic writing, and praxis. They also have the opportunity to design and execute independent research in the field at an advanced level, sufficient to be considered for publication. These skills, along with the deeper understanding that women’s and gender studies students gain of the world and of structures of oppression around them, prepare students for a wide range of career and education options.

The study of women’s and gender studies facilitates the development of a core set of skills sought after by employers in a wide range of occupational settings. Throughout your experience in the program, you will obtain the following skills:

Critical Thinking Skills

  • Approaching problems from multiple perspectives
  • Avoiding simplistic conclusions
  • Reading critically
  • Thinking independently
  • Recognizing unnoticed patterns and structures
  • Understanding components of complex problems

Effective Communication Skills

  • Writing effectively
  • Reading critically
  • Articulating ideas/theories
  • Creating persuasive arguments
  • Analytical writing
  • Assessing conflicting viewpoints
  • Public speaking

Research Skills

  • Using a variety of resources
  • Gathering and interpreting data
  • Original analysis
  • Defining problems
  • Understanding social context
  • Applying theoretical approaches to research problems

Social and Cultural Relations Skills

  • Understanding and appreciating human relationships along gendered, classed, and racial lines
  • Identifying cultural/social forces
  • Understanding diversity

You can use the examples above, and experiences from classes or research projects to enhance your resume. Try plugging in some of your experiences or skills gained into this formula: Accomplished (X) as measured by (Y) by doing (Z).

Sample Resume Class 1, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Member of Class, taught by Prof. ___

  • Analyzed various feminist theories and perspectives in relation to a range of topics including race, sexuality, reproductive politics, poverty and the economy, and violence through weekly engagement assignments in WGST 140 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies course.
  • Presented a current or historic event related to queer studies through a PowerPoint presentation to the class, connecting the event to course materials in WGST 141 Introduction to Sexuality Studies course.
  • Created and led an online lesson for the class on [insert topic] by presenting compelling visual and audio material, explaining and critiquing a peer-reviewed journal article, and facilitating class discussion in WGST 251 Gender and the Law course.

Georgetown Alumni have taken their women’s and gender studies degree across multiple different industries and have applied the skills they learned in women’s and gender studies across multiple disciplines.

Additional information about these outcomes can be found in Cawley’s Post Graduation Outcome Report.

“The most underrated benefit of majoring in women’s and gender studies is the adjunct faculty from various backgrounds and industries who offer a variety of interesting courses. In addition, WGST taught me how to be an ally to a variety of marginalized communities and how to practice empathy with all those I work with and write about.” – 2020 Georgetown College Graduate, Women’s and Gender Studies

Helpful Keywords to Improve Searches

There are lots of ways to find good keywords to help your job or internship search process, or even just to learn more about the types of jobs you can do within a specific major. One way to explore this is by checking out the job search tool on Google. 

Once you are in, type in something generic like your major and the world internship afterward. Once you hit enter, it will give you lots of options to explore, but if you want to explore titles, possible career paths, or keywords, hover your mouse over the ‘Title’ tab on the top of the page. This will give you a ton of ideas and options to explore possible keywords.

Sample Internship Opportunities

  • National organizations for Women
  • International development agencies 
  • Communications/Media
  • Political Action Committees 
  • U.S. or state congress
  • Women’s health organizations
  • Research institutes/think tanks

The Georgetown Women’s and Gender Studies Program website is rich with additional information on studying women’s and gender studies.

Firsthand is a fantastic resource to learn more about specific career fields in the women’s and gender studies. Firsthand has information such as salary information, work environment, education and training requirements, outlooks, and specific tips for entering into the field.

Professors & Academic Deans
Georgetown professors and faculty members can be a wonderful resource for Georgetown students. If you are still curious to learn more about the disciplines of a specific major, we’d encourage you to connect with your professors! Outside of office hours, Georgetown has an online interface called GU360 where students can explore and connect with faculty members that are eager to mentor and support students. You can use this interface to learn more about specific department research, specialties, and areas of study within a major.  

You can also connect with your academic dean or counselor to further discuss opportunities within a given major. 
Lastly, each department has a dedicated Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). This is the individual in charge of coordinating the major program or department as a whole. You can find the Director of Undergraduate Studies by exploring the faculty and staff pages of individual departments websites.

Alumni
Connecting with alumni is a fantastic way to explore a day in the life of any given major student. There are several different ways to connect with Georgetown Alums. Hoya Gateway is Georgetown’s premier networking platform which connects alumni and students to have meaningful conversations and build a strong network of support. This is a platform alumni opt into with the sole purpose of supporting current students, which means there is an extremely high response rate. 

You can also utilize LinkedIn to connect with Georgetown Alum. A simple alumni search on Georgetown’s LinkedIn profile will help you get connected to approximately 130 thousand alumni, which you can then filter to meet the location, major, industry, or skills that you are interested in exploring.

You can also check out our Post Graduation Outcomes to learn more about what Georgetown alumni in specific majors are up to after graduation. We survey our seniors at the end of each year and into the following year to learn about jobs they secured, service opportunities they committed to, or graduate schools they decided to attend. You can filter by first major to get an idea of what life after Georgetown looks like. You’ll see in many cases that alums are using majors in a wide variety of ways, and your major doesn’t always equal your career path.

Career Center Staff
You can also connect with career center staff to talk through the possible outcomes of one major over another. In short, there are endless opportunities no matter what major you choose. However, connecting with someone might help you navigate your decision making process a little bit easier. 

At the career center, you have the opportunity to meet with either a career exploration counselor or an industry advisor. Career exploration counselors can help you talk through concerns, goals, the big picture, and strategies to move forward. You can think of them as generalists and a great place to get started. Industry advisors can help you think through specific questions about a given career path and provide specific industry information and trends. You can think of them as specialists for once you start to narrow down your possible path. If you think an appointment with one of these individuals would benefit you, you can make an appointment on Handshake.

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