Gender and Women's Studies

Undergraduate Program

Introduction to the Major

Gender and sexuality pervade every aspect of our lives. The Gender and Women's Studies undergraduate program introduces students to the intersectional analysis of gender, women, and sexuality, focusing on the workings of power in social and historical life. Students learn to apply methods derived from the social sciences, the humanities, and the interdisciplines to the study of gender. They explore a growing body of feminist and queer theory that revises our understanding of gender, sexuality, society, and culture.

The Department of Gender and Women’s Studies offers a major and minor in Gender and Women’s Studies, as well as a minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies.

The Major Curriculum 

The Gender and Women’s Studies department offers an introduction to feminist theory as well as more advanced courses that seek to expand capacities for critical reflection and analysis and to engage students with varied approaches to feminist research.

The program curriculum draws students into interdisciplinary and intersectional analysis of specific gender practices through investigating areas such as feminism in a transnational world, the politics of representation, feminist science studies, gender and work, gender and health, and queer visual culture.

Amplify Your Major

Gender and Women’s Studies taught me a way of thinking which expanded my intellectual/cultural/ethical horizons tremendously.
Cathie Nelson, GWS Major

Four-Year Student Timeline

First Year

Explore Your Major

  • Meet with your major and college advisor to discuss your academic plans.

  • Familiarize yourself with major and college requirements and consult the major FAQs.

  • Enroll in GWS 10: Intro to Gender and Women’s Studies and/or GWS 14: Gender, Sexuality, and Race in Global Political Issues.

Connect and Build Community

Discover Your Passions

Engage Locally and Globally

Reflect and Plan Your Future

Second Year

Explore Your Major

  • Complete lower division prerequisites and declare the major.

  • Start thinking about upper division core (GWS 101, 102, 195) and elective courses within the major.

  • Review major guidelines for study abroad.

Connect and Build Community

Discover Your Passions

Engage Locally and Globally

Reflect and Plan Your Future

Third Year

Explore Your Major

  • Focus on completing upper division requirements and electives.

  • Review your degree progress with your major and college advisors.

  • Ask the major advisor about the Gender and Women’s Studies honors program.

Connect and Build Community

Discover Your Passions

Engage Locally and Globally

Reflect and Plan Your Future

  • Update your resume and LinkedIn profile.

  • Discuss post-graduate options with advisors and professors.

  • Attend career and graduate school fairs like the “Nonprofit, Education, and Public Service Career Fair.”

  • Ask professors and graduate student instructors for recommendation letters.

Fourth Year

Explore Your Major

Connect and Build Community

Discover Your Passions

Engage Locally and Globally

Reflect and Plan Your Future

What Can I Do With My Major?

Majoring in Gender and Women’s Studies is attractive to employers and graduate school admissions, from medical school and law school to NGOs, teaching, and business. Employers like to see students who have taken classes indicating sustained critical thinking and writing, and a commitment to social justice.

Jobs and Employers

  • Clinical Research Coord., Stanford University

  • Counselor, Asian Immigrant Women’s Advocate

  • Fellow, Fulbright Program

  • Filmmaker, Independent Films

  • Organizer, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)

  • Partnership Development Asst., Fair Trade USA

  • Policy Analyst, UC Berkeley

  • Researcher, National Taiwan University

  • Senior Community Manager, Udacity

  • Sex & Gender Equity Analyst, CA Dept of Education 

Graduate Programs

  • African-American/Black Studies, PhD, UC Berkeley

  • Industrial Psychology, PhD, Rice University

  • Film Studies, Masters, UCLA

  • Law, JD, UC Berkeley

  • Masters of Divinity, Union Theological Seminary

  • Medicine, UC Berkeley/UCSF School of Medicine

  • Public Health, Masters, Pepperdine

  • Social Work, Masters

Examples gathered from the First Destination Survey of recent Berkeley graduates and LinkedIn.

Learn More

Connect With Us

Cal Day

Come to Berkeley’s annual Open House in April for information sessions, campus tours, special talks, and more.

Golden Bear Orientation

Join your peers in the campus-wide UC Berkeley orientation program for all new students and GWS department workshops for majors.

Events

Attend department events with students, staff, and faculty. Visit womensstudies.berkeley.edu for news and updates.

Advising

Students can contact the major advisor, Althea Grannum-Cummings to schedule appointments or ask questions by emailing cummings@berkeley.edu

Advising Drop-In Hours

Monday - Friday, 10am - 12pm.

How to Use this Map

Use this map to help plan and guide your experience at UC Berkeley, including academic, co-curricular, and discovery opportunities. Everyone’s Berkeley experience is different and activities in this map are suggestions. Always consult with your advisors whenever possible for new opportunities and updates.