As a liberal arts field, Women’s Studies can provide a fine general background for further education and career training. Most employers and professional school admissions officers are very interested in the liberal arts student who has good grades and good recommendations, almost regardless of field. This is because a liberal arts graduate is traditionally expected to have a combination of broad knowledge, specialized knowledge, and critical thinking skills, all of which contribute to the person’s ability to solve problems of all sorts in later employment.
But there are also some fields in which a focus on women’s experience and gender is clearly an advantage. These include counseling and human services, education, law and labor relations, literature and the arts, journalism, social sciences, and many of the health care fields.
During internships and after graduation, Women’s Studies majors and minors have worked with community agencies offering special support services to women, such as battered women’s shelters, rape crisis centers, and multi-service counseling centers. Students interested in human services have also chosen to go on to more advanced degree work in applied sociology, counselor education, psychology, social work, or human services.
Graduates of UMB Women’s Studies have gone on to earn advanced degrees in history, American studies, literature, and sociology, as well as Women’s Studies. Some have prepared for college teaching, and others for K-12 teaching careers. One of our current faculty members, now with a Ph.D. in history, is a graduate of our Department. A more recent graduate is currently pursing an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Women’s Studies at UCLA.
The fields of law and labor relations continue to offer career opportunities in which feminists can work to improve women’s social, economic, and legal status. The Women’s Studies Progam offers three courses which focus on women and law: WOST 290 Women’s Legal Issues, WOST 291 Family Law, and WOST 292 Family Law Practice. We number several law school graduates among the alumnae who keep in touch with us. They have offered to provide mentoring for our current students interested in a degree in law.
Women’s Studies majors and minors with skills in photography, film or video, and writing are often attracted to careers in the media professions. Involvement in such careers can be an effective means of helping to change public attitudes and perceptions about women and men. They can also lead to creative and challenging work. Students can acquire both skills and experience in media work through Art Department and Communications program courses, English courses, Women’s Studies courses and internships, and through work for the Mass Media (the University newspaper), or for WUMB (the University radio station).
Health care employment opportunities continue to multiply, and for those interested in health care careers, we recommend taking at least one liberal arts course, such as WoSt 260, Women’s Health Care, that focuses critically on the way the health care system in the United States affects women, who are the majority of health care consumers and providers. Among our graduates are some who have completed further study in fields such as nutrition counseling, holistic and alternative health practices, and psychiatric nursing.
Women’s Studies courses on such topics as women’s economic roles, the sex-segregated labor market, public policy, and social ethics are very good background for students intending to enter business, government or non-profit activist and advocacy careers. You may also want to consider the one-year graduate certificate program offered by the Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy.
If you are already a major or minor in Women’s Studies, we encourage you to discuss your career ideas with the Department chairperson or a faculty advisor, and to make use of the Internship/Field Work requirement to test your ideas.
We also recommend that you make an appointment with a Career Services counselor in the University Advising Center. There you will be able to take a free career aptitude test, as well as get advising on applying to graduate and professional schools, workshops on writing a good resume, and opportunities to practice your job interview skills.
For more information on the career paths of UMB Women’s Studies graduates, please consult Feminews, our occasional newsletter.