Florida State University

Women's Studies - Psychology Bldg. 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306 - 2nd Floor - Room A208.
Phone: (850) 644-9514
FAX: (850) 644-7661

Table of Contents
  Frequently Asked Questions
 
 

What kinds of things will you learn when studying Women's Studies?

Women's Studies provides you with all the benefits of a liberal arts degree. A Liberal arts education emphasizes critical thinking, which can be applied to a multitude of careers.  It demonstrates to a potential employer that you have the confidence, skills, and maturity to earn a college degree; that you are well-rounded, having studied a wide variety of topics rather than one narrow skills area; that you are more likely to think globally than many other job applicants.  Managers often prefer liberal arts majors because they think they are better at organizing material, writing well, and making oral presentations.  Moreover, a Women's Studies major equips you with significant additional advantages. 
 
 

What specific skills can you gain with a Women's Studies Degree?

  Larissa Semnuk, a Women's Studies graduate, explains: "The major prepares one to do anything any other liberal arts major does but with deeper insight into issues of oppression and celebration of women." Hopefully, this insight carries over into important issues of other groups -- making one more sensitive and therefore more prepared to do all things/jobs with greater attention to ethical standards.  "A Women's Studies major is taught to look for  the hidden -- like looking for the silenced voices of women in history.  It's invaluable!" (Luebke and Reilly, 19).  There are many practical on-the-job applications for Women's Studies training.  For example, as more women work, businesses and corporations find the need for more sensitivity to women's issues such as sexual harassment, flex-time, parental leave, pay equity, and equal employment opportunities.  The development of women's agencies and organizations is spurring demand for graduates with specializations in Women's Studies.  There is growing demand in the professions of law, medicine, social work, teaching, counseling, and government service for expertise in gender issues.  Similarly, women's studies specialists are increasingly being used as consultants in industry, higher education, insurance companies, and personnel firms.  Perhaps most importantly, many Women's Studies graduates say that their education gave them the confidence to pursue careers traditionally held by men.
 
 

What are some of the fields of graduate study that Women's Studies Majors have pursued?

The fields of graduate study that Women's Studies majors have pursued include: administration, advocacy, anthropology, arts, counseling, education, history, humanities, international studies, law, library science, philosophy, psychology, public health, public policy, social work, and sociology.
 
 

What are some specific examples of occupations pursued by Women's Studies graduates?

  A recent national study uncovered more than 38 distinct occupations pursued by WS graduates (Luebke and Reilly).  Categories of careers include:
ARTS: Many Women's Studies Majors are self-employed artists, arts administrators and authors.
BUSINESS:  Majoring in Women's Studies helps professionals in the field of business learn how male-female interactions affect the business environment, gain an understanding of federal, state, and  local equal opportunity legislation, and explore differences in women's and men's managerial styles.  Some Women's Studies graduates are small-business owners, members of trade associations (domestic and international), and employed as coordinators for Shield Care Network in Albany and by Motorola.
EDUCATION: Majoring in Women's Studies helps professionals in the field of education become aware of sexist, racist, and other biases in textbooks, learn more about subconscious classroom behaviors that limit students to stereotypical roles, and explore non-sexist teaching models and curriculum integration.  A Women's Studies graduate from Hunter College (with a Master's Degree in ESL) teaches English as a Second Language, and another is a counselor at Ulster County Health teaching courses in the Women's Studies Program and Humanistic Education Program. 
POLITICS AND LAW: Majoring in Women's Studies particularly helps professionals in these fields learn how women have been excluded from the political process in the past, examine how women are working to achieve political empowerment today, and explore women's public policy issues.  Some Women's Studies graduates are currently working in such areas as women's advocacy groups, i.e.,  NOW, NARAL and  Planned Parenthood.   Some WS graduates work as managing attorneys for the Legal Aid Society,  and others with Affirmative Action in different divisions of NY State services (including prisons), and in Foreign Service.
SOCIAL WORK AND PSYCHOLOGY: Majoring in Women's Studies helps professionals in the fields of Social Work and Psychology to explore sexist biases in therapeutic models, gain an understanding of the common concerns experienced by female clients, such as battering, rape, incest, body image and self-worth, and relate women's personal issues to the social construction of gender.  Some Women's Studies graduates are currently working in areas such as the Colorado AIDS Project and in battered women's shelters.  Others are in such positions as a director of a volunteer program for domestic violence agency in Chicago, a social worker at the Washington, DC Women's Council on AIDS,  and as a job developer/trainer for the Arizona Women's Education and Employment. 
Information provided by:
http://www.msu.edu/~wmstdy/wsmjr1.htm
 

Women's Studies Graduates often find employment as counselors, therapists, social workers, attorneys, journalists, market analysts, political analysts, television producers, union organizers for women workers, and fundraisers for women's organizations.  Graduate work in women's studies enhances opportunities for faculty positions in traditional disciplines or can provide an additional credential for students pursuing professions in law, education, or medicine.
From http://web.wst.ufl.edu/

Where can I find additional sources for justifying Women's Studies Scholarship?

Some helpful articles and books are cited below:

Boxer, Marilyn.  1998.  "Thinking Anew About the World and Women" and "Knowledge for What"  When Women Ask the Questions.

Bowles, Gloria.  1983.  "Is Women's Studies an Academic Discipline?" Theories of Women's Studies.

Luebke, Barbara F. and Mary Ellen Reilly.    Women's Studies Graduates:  The First Generation.  Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, 1995.

Also recommended is the report The Courage to Question:  Women's Studies and Student Learning by Caryn McTighe Musil, American Association of Colleges and NWSA, 1992.


For additional information, contact: 
womenstudies@psy.fsu.edu