I can understand why relatives of a certain age wouldn’t understand why someone would pick a gender studies major and assume that she is gay. Unfortunately, ‘of a certain age’ includes my age. There was no such major when I was in school. Women’s studies,black studies, Asian studies, Native American studies were just starting, and often only an emphasis not a full, stand alone major in many schools. Within 10 years Women’s Studies had become (almost) main stream, at least in the college world.
If your daughter could explain to these relatives (who aren’t admissions officers) why she has an interest in this area, then they won’t be so surprised the next time someone says that’s her area of interest. She wants to explore women’s rights and politics and psychology and biology and literature, and they are all together in one major.
If relatives & friends are asking now, then what impression will potential employers have 4 years from now? Sexual orientation is not such a big deal nowadays to employers, but will employers assume she’s just an ANGRY or FLAKEY person? The hard truth is people aren’t likely to hold the same preconceptions about English & Linguistics majors.
The only gender studies major I knew while I was in grad school was an angry woman who confided that she had a fetish for domineering Arab men who treat women like crap (I’m not making this up!). Over a beer, she invariably railed about oppression by men. Except for her sharing about her dates w hot Arab men, the conversation got old fast.
Admittedly, I have a sample set of 1. But whenever I hear gender studies, I can’t help but think of that flakey grad student.
Sorry to be brutally practical, but what does D intend to do with a degree in gender studies? Tenured faculty gender studies positions are few and far between. Might it be pragmatic to consider a DOUBLE MAJOR?
The only person I’ve known named Chloe was a real a-hole. I wouldn’t name my kids Chloe but I’m not going to judge all people named Chloe by the one person I got to know.
Seriously, my guess is OP’s daughter wouldn’t be happy working for any person or organization that thought that way anyway. If she’s interested in gender studies she’s not going to kowtow to someone restricted enough in their thinking to look down on her major. It’s a big world out there. Best to hang around and work for like minded souls.
It’s so specific, I imagine people that major in it are like people that major in astronomy or a language…they intend to use that specificity in their career aspirations. Women’s studies could lead to advocacy positions or women’s health, clergy, law enforcement, womens sports, law etc. I think younger people might not assume all are gay, but I think I can understand why “olders” might since it wasn’t a major until quite recently and “olders” might wonder why not sociology, why so specific to one gender for four years and then what do you do with that degree. With women coming close to parity with males in colleges and in some colleges exceeding males, I don’t think it would be an admissions boost in anyway at places that offer this major.
@PrimeMeridian Well, my guess is she’s unlikely to apply for an engineering job so you’re both safe.
@momofthreeboys I think females account for more of the population at the MAJORITY of colleges and universities these days. Parity was achieved some time ago.
Possibly…there were/are more males than females at the 3 schools my sons chose although they are getting closer to parity so I’m not aware that the majority of colleges and universities now tip toward females as the higher percent… But parity has nothing to do with universities that support a women’s studies program and probably more to do with the sheer number of students that wish to study that major.
Thank you for the replies. I think she will be fine. She probably will double major and she is not even in college yet. I am not too worried as she has many interests
" I am not too worried as she has many interests" - Maybe so, but she can refine things once she gets through a few college courses. My concern about gender studies (without another major) would be need for grad school… perhaps unfunded grad school.
One of my best friends out of college was a Woman Studies major. She then went on to grad school and became very successful. She led organizations, and wrote academic books. In fact, she is now a dean at a very highly regarded university that is ranked in the top 20. She’s an inspiring leader.
I think a lot depends on the student. My friend is incredibly bright, articulate and ambitious. She came from a low income rural area and was first generation. Don’t dismiss the major. Yes, she went through some very rough times financially but she never gave up on her vision.
@PrimeMeridian wow just wow about your responses to this thread. As a non-gay female airline pilot interested in gender studies, wow. We haven’t come as far as I thought we have come.
However, it seems that your generalization from one anecdotal example is different from the generalization held by some of the people that the OP spoke to.
Seems like people are easily influenced by single anecdotal examples. But perhaps not surprising, since it seems to occur in other contexts.
At most colleges your choice of major, unusual or not, does not give a “boost.” Admissions officers understand that freshman are unreliable narrators when it comes to telling what their majors are going to be in college.
But no, most people won’t assume that gender studies means a student (male or female) is gay. Particularly not a female student; at many places these majors are called “women’s and gender studies.”
There’s really nothing quirky about gender studies; it’s been an established field of study for at least 50-60 years at this point.
Well, she only mentioned it to “a couple of relatives and close friends,” so I’m sure she has plenty of other associates who are more reasonable. One can hope, at any rate.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Let’s spend no more time parsing “most people” vs. “all people” please. We’re not here to try to debate if a sample size of one is meaningful.
