Do people go to university in order to get the education and credentials they need to obtain a good job? According to a report in The College Fix, the answer is no.
Assessing a study from the National Center for Education Statistics, it would seem that many students pursue post-secondary studies to “understand and relate to peers and colleagues better.”
That goal has apparently led to a massive jump in students enrolling in women’s and gender studies.
The center indicates that 300 percent more degrees are being awarded in this category than in 1990.
According to an article in USA Today College, “many of the programs explore and question the relationship of race, class, sexuality, ethnicity and more to encourage students to investigate in the broader field of gender.”
Proponents of these programs make no effort to conceal their political agenda. As Doreen Mattingly, chair of San Diego State’s program, puts it, “Our curriculum is really about social justice, and I think at this moment a lot of students are realizing that this is where students want to put their energy — what they want to learn and what they want to do.”
Or this take from Wellesley College’s Susan Reverby, who described the future of women’s and gender studies as one where “the field should grow and be different than it was in decades ago, because if it didn’t, we didn’t do our work. Now, especially, I think we’re better at intellectually helping students understand all the different forms of intersectional experience, and we’re less focused on social construction.”
As for finding a job after graduation, Ball State women’s and gender studies major Lilly Madden claims the employment horizons are broad.
“When people with this degree and this background go out into the world, they have a really great tool set to be be able to understand and recognize different problems and obstacles affecting different people in our society.”
“I do have job opportunities, I do have skills, I do have a college degree that is meaningful.”
The College of New Jersey’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies website goes further, suggesting that “[a] degree in Women’s and Gender Studies prepares you for almost anything.”