The OP said twice that all the family/friends she mentioned it to immediately asked if DD is gay.
It’s disingenuous not to acknowledge that gays are still unfairly stigmatized. Gays continue to need to fight for equal rights globally.
^I would think that a person considering majoring in Gender Studies would not the be the type of person to kowtow to other people’s prejudices. The prejudices are indeed problematic. How we stand up to them should not be.
Funny, husband had to stop by HR yesterday for paperwork. He got talking to a new hire, Her major? Gender studies.
The thought didn’t even cross his mind to wonder whether she was gay or not.
I think with diversity training and diversity officers becoming a big buzz word in business… you may see more gender studies majors in HR departments…
And if it had, would he have run screaming from the office?
There is some sort of astrology major out there. A few years ago, a CC kid wanted to major in it. IIRC, it’s more at international colleges. Still baffles me, but some find it legit.
This notion majors need to directly relate to employment is rather narrow. (I’ll note, most of us on CC do not want to be seen as narrow-minded!) Employers in some fields care about professional readiness, sure. And/or the courses that might support readiness, if the major isn’t spot on. But face it, most employers are also looking for qualities. And those don’t come just from the line on the sheepskin.
If OP’s daughter is aiming at the Vassar and Tufts tier, she will get a great run for her money. Pretty much, no matter the major. And I’d suggest anyone not familiar with how GWS actually works in colleges, take a look. Most at top colleges are interdisciplinary and include various rigorous courses in a breadth of related fields.
Profs may also cross lines into other fields. My anecdote is a college D1 looked at where, eg, certain history courses were taught by GS profs. No problem there, By nature, the subject specialty requires some breadth.
I think like anything it depends. Entry level finance jobs will look for different coursework and qualities than an entry level PR job or an entry level Materials Handling job etc. Sales positions it might not matter at all other than some basic knowledge of that particular industry. If kids have a particular industry in mind, they can probably figure out what the company will be looking for in the entry level positions and if it matters what their major happens to be. The problem is that hundreds still apply for entry level jobs so often the recruiter is looking for related degrees or related experience. Gender Studies and HR makes perfect sense to me as did the mom whose D majored in English with Creative Writing emphasis end ing up in journalism… The rough sort will be on degree and experience for a fresh college graduate person and just like college admissions the rough sort is focused on who to drop more than who to keep to get the volume down to a manageable number for a closer look.
One of my brightest, most driven, and intellectually curious students double-majored in Gender Studies and Econ (with heavy quant work) at UChicago. Pretty sure her GS degree won’t hold her back in any way (and honestly I pity the fool who would try to get in her way!).
I think pre-conceptions can sort of “weed out” the bad-fit schools or employers. Some folks recommend that autistic kids not reveal their autism to colleges before acceptance. My D is “revealing” because she has no interest in attending a college that would reject a kid simply due to autism. If an employer says “no” because they think “gender studies = gay = bad” or “gender studies = flaky and angry” then the gender studies major probably wouldn’t want to be in that culture.
You asked the question and I’ll answer based on a small poll.
Yes. (But "not like there’s anything wrong with that).
No admissions boost. (or detriment either).
Last year on CC we played “tour Bingo” and people suggested things they heard over and over on tours. My pet irritant and bingo card contribution was when the tour leader would say “And if we don’t offer your specific major, you can design your own!” Most majors I know of have plenty of room to take classes in other areas so there is no need to be so super concentrated.
I’m a traditionalist. I think the majors should still be English, history, poly sci. If you want a concentration in Weather during the Major Civil War Battles, that’s fine too, but the major should still be History and you should have to take all the required courses for History, not get to design your own major.
(what does that have to do with this thread or gender studies?)
I have a BS in engineering, ma in math, and phd in physics. Now I’m studying French. S has a dual major in philosophy and psychology and D is working on a dual major in communications and business. None of which are, apparently, English, history, or poly sci. I’ve also heard of lots of people finding success in the non-traditional field of computers. From what I’ve found, my earliest ancestor I can identify was a civil engineer for some british royalty. How much more traditional do you need, twoin?
*poli sci
(the “poli” is for “political” rather than some weird sort of degree in a bunch of different science disciplines)
My major was psychology, and my honors thesis adviser was an inspiring woman. Two of her grad students went on to be deans in NE colleges/Us. Her work was on women’s studies, which influenced the direction I went in. My first academic post was at Wellesley college.
Back then, there was no GS major or minor, but I can see how this field would be of interest.