Career Outcomes

Your Success Story is Waiting. Our alumni often write to us about how they have found their degree useful in the real world and how the very experience of being in a feminist classroom proved to be life-changing. In fact, they transfer their intellectual skills into new work spaces and environments in order to make them more inclusive and diverse. According to one graduate, “to employers, my having a women’s studies background meant that I had a proficient awareness of diversity issues, a key perspective when developing new services”

Alumni Stories

Melinda Staub ’20

Medicine Health and Society, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, expected MD’24

“Majoring in Gender and Sexuality Studies has been the best decision I have made in my undergraduate education. Not only have the classes immensely improved my critical reading and writing skills, but they have also provided me with the tools to discuss and combat race and gender inequity in any setting. Especially, as I go into the medical field, it is important not only to show compassion and acceptance of our diverse backgrounds but to also create equity. This perspective was apparent in my medical school application process; every institution valued that my degree focused on learning about different populations’ experiences in our society.”

Tyler Easley ’20

Medicine Health and Society; HOD minor, Gender and Sexuality Studies minor

“I was looking to add a second minor so that when choosing my last 10 or so classes, I would have a bit of direction. I felt confident discussing topics that I could relate to, such as class inequality or racism, so I was looking for a subject that would challenge me and make me uneasy, as I believe growth stems from discomfort. GSS seemed like the perfect fit considering I am cisgender (straight male, on the masculine side). I felt that gender and sexuality studies would make me a more critical thinker by allowing me to explore perspectives that I’m unfamiliar with, and it certainly has! More than anything, I think it has made me a better person by helping me become more empathetic. Regarding my success and career ambitions, those two qualities are invaluable- critical thinking and empathy. I can safely assume that those qualities were exemplified in my law school admissions essays and interviews. In short, I’ll say that my core curriculum cultivated in me a capacity to recognize the complexity of societal issues that pertain to women and the LGBTQ+ community and increased my ability to diversely interpret certain issues.”

Rayne Peerenboom ’19

Neuroscience, Gender and Sexuality Studies minor

University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine expected MD’24

“Since graduating in May 2019, I have been working as a scribe at a medical oncology clinic with doctors specializing in breast cancer. I will be starting medical school in the fall. Not only has my GSS background provided me a unique lens through which to view the complicated decisions women make at the clinic each day, but it has changed my perspective on medicine and healing in so many ways. I know I will bring this unique perspective to the table throughout the rest of my career in medicine, and I am so grateful to the GSS department for everything they taught me!”

Audrey Pope ’20

Gender and Sexuality Studies, Political Science and Anthropology minors

Harvard Law School expected JD’25

“More than anything, GSS has given me the confidence and capability to think critically about issues, drawing not only from my own personal experiences but also from perspectives very different than mine. Going into law, I want to take that analytical GSS framework with me to think about the ways in which we can study and practice to best serve the real and different experiences of real and different people. I sometimes explain GSS as being simultaneously the most critical and the most compassionate discipline; it has really empowered me to engage with the world in both of those ways, and I’m sure that any future successes I have in law will stem from these ways of thinking that GSS has encouraged in me.”

Career Outcome Data

Students in gender and sexuality studies go on to pursue education and careers in multiple different fields. Based on 2019 survey data, the breakdown of career outcomes for GSS majors and minors is demonstrated in the graph below.