The value of a women's studies degree

Ashley Jennings:
"A women's studies degree! What could you possibly do with that?" This may sound familiar to you if you are majoring in various liberal arts fields. Although there may be some challenges in pursuing this field, the benefits greatly outweigh the limitations.

Facing the job market may seem daunting for anyone graduating in this economy. One challenge for women's studies majors lay in choosing between the available career opportunities. With this specific liberal arts degree, many pursue such careers as teaching, advertising, consulting, grassroots activism, international human rights advocacy, social work, writing or editing for one of the many feminist or women's issues magazines, and more. Although it may seem more difficult to find a corporate job with a women's studies degree, the Internet provides plenty of resources for women in the workplace, such as this listing of women-related business websites.

Although graduate school does require more time and money, it can open even more doors for women's studies students. With a master's in women's studies, for instance, one could be director of a women's resource center or a family or personal counselor. Adding a doctorate in sociology could lead to a career as a college professor or a psychologist. Women's studies undergraduate majors who pursue law school degrees can become political leaders or attorneys for battered women. And those interested in health care can pursue nursing or even medical school. The field of women's health care alone offers several career options in areas such as breast cancer, gynecology, counseling for Planned Parenthood, STD testing and treatment, and more.

My advice is to get plugged in: Join a women's network in your community. Visit www.idealist.org and other websites that offer academic job opportunity sources, such as http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/Employment/ and http://www.msu.edu/~wmstdy/wsmjr1.htm. Finally, never give up!

Leslie Essien:
The discipline of women's studies allows focused immersion into the depths of what it means to be a woman, the roles of women in the world, the vast issues that impact women, and the rich and colorful history of women. Women's studies have inspired entrepreneurial creativity and the development of nonprofit organizations that serve and address the needs of women.

One major drawback, however, is that women's studies majors are often labeled as feminists, which for some people translates into aggressive so-called "femi-nazis." This exaggerated stereotype can perpetuate gender discrimination against students in the women's studies discipline. Another limitation is the gender ratio within the major; the radically unbalanced representation of men in this field further enhances the male community's misunderstanding of feminist studies and expands the gender divide.

I, for one, am not pursuing a degree in women's studies. While women's studies focuses on feminism—the movement to gain political, economic, and social equality for women—I am not confident that the discipline deals with the dynamics of racism coupled with feminism in a significant manner. As an African American woman and a "black feminist," my day-to-day experience with racism is more palpable than my experience with sexism. Thus, I am majoring in African American studies and sociology/anthropology. It is my desire to be an agent of social change by dealing specifically with the insidious and global issue of institutional racism. The fact that I am a black feminist illuminates two of my passions: improving the quality of life both for people of color and for women. AAUW provides a wonderful avenue through which I can be directly involved on cutting edge issues that impact women.

Knowledge is power. The more women educate themselves about the concept of gender itself and gender juxtaposed to class, race, nationality, age, and sexual identity, the greater strides we can make, collectively, toward women's rights worldwide.