Women and Gender Studies (NDSU)

Women and Gender Studies Program

The Women and Gender Studies program is an interdisciplinary academic program that focuses on women and gender issues in society and offers an undergraduate major and minor. Founded in 1978, the program is sponsored jointly by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Human Development and Education. Follow the links to the left to find out more about the program.

What exactly do you DO in Women and Gender Studies?

Women and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on women and men in society, and especially aims at raising women’s aspirations, at expanding awareness of their capabilities, and at widening the knowledge and development of both female and male students.

Women and Gender Studies courses typically include reading a wide perspective of research and literature about issues related to gender. The teaching and learning approach tends to be interdisciplinary, emphasizing relationships and connections between traditional disciplines. Therefore, in this program, you will take some WGS courses, and will supplement them with classes in many other fields. WGS courses encourage class discussion and individual reflection through papers and projects. Some of the courses incorporate activism projects in which class members put theoretical concepts into practice in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

A major or minor in WGS will enhance your marketability if you wish to be employed in a position in which diversity and gender awareness/skills are important, and it will be a program in which you will learn about yourself and grow as a person.

What can you do WITH a Women and Gender Studies degree?

A Women and Gender Studies major will strengthen skills in writing, critical thinking, oral presentation, team work and leadership. These skills are important in today’s evolving job market, oriented by increased needs for communication skills, new technologies, rapid economic change, and resourceful employees. Women and Gender Studies courses, which emphasize the value of diversity, relationships, and coalition building, prepare graduates to listen, to communicate across differences in background and viewpoint, to analyze reports, and to respond openly to change. These are all characteristics required to pursue successful careers in teaching and school administration; social services; law enforcement; counseling; community organization; communication; business and marketing; human resources and management; services and hospitality industries; and in healthcare fields such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy, and administration.

North Dakota State University