Why should you consider taking a B.A. in Women’s Studies?

A Bachelor of Arts degree is designed to develop flexibility, critical thinking skills, and a wide knowledge base which are valued by many diverse employers. Students in Women’s Studies develop research skills and an ability to construct effective verbal and oral arguments. Women’s Studies encourages you to grow intellectually beyond the confines of traditional thinking and challenges you personally and politically. Many students choose combined concentrations at the undergraduate level--the interdisciplinary nature of Women’s Studies makes this a logical option and gives you more flexibility in entering graduate or professional programs.

What kind of job does this degree qualify me for?

Employers increasingly are interested in hiring people who are sensitive to equity issues arising out of the emerging diversity of Canadian society. Women’s Studies graduates are currently working in a variety of fields. They may work in feminist organizations, women’s advocacy groups, women’s shelters, rape crisis centres, hospitals, and government agencies, small and large businesses. Your B.A. in Women’s Studies provides excellent background for entering professions where knowledge about women’s perspectives can lead to specialized practice or be used every day in interactions with people. These include law, nursing, medicine, midwifery, social work, counseling, teaching, journalism and media production.

Can I go on to Graduate School with a Women’s Studies degree?

Graduate programs in Women’s Studies at the M.A. and Ph. D. level are established at many universities in and outside of Canada. At some universities it is possible to take a Women’s Studies option while studying within one of the traditional disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, history, English, or philosophy.

What do our graduates say?

The Women's Studies program has taught me issues surrounding not only my own life, but about other women as a whole. I have come to realize that Women’s Studies has been an inspiration to me. I have learned different issues that I have never encountered before and I know that the program will help me in all future aspects, because it is not just a course or a major, but a life experience that teaches people how to live in society.

--Krysta Laffrenier, B.A. Women’s Studies 2003

I have learned a lot from women's studies that I not only use in my present, personal view of the way I react to the world around me, but will also use toward the field of work I will be going into. I am now working toward my diplomas in social work--and in the courses I am taking this summer with Laurentian in Social Studies, much of what I have learned in Women’s Studies applies--such as postmodernism, globalization, and free trade, to name a few. I will carry what I have learned in Women’s Studies to my profession--with the hope of finding like-minded others.

 --Maureen Doyle, B.A. Psychology with a Women’s Studies Certificate 2003

The knowledge of feminist theory and methodology that I gained from my Women's Studies degree has enabled me to secure my current position as a research assistant position with McMaster University's Women's Health Study (Sudbury Region). It has also prepared me to serve as the President of the Sudbury Sexual Assault Crisis Centre's Board of Directors. However, the greatest benefit of my degree is that it has changed the way that I see and interact with the world around me.

--Terri Lepage, B.A. Women’s Studies and English 2003

Women’s Studies at Laurentian taught me about social analysis. I learned to think critically about institutions in which we participate--policy, education, the economy, politics, literature, culture, media, and religion--and consider their relationships to all people. The analytical and writing skills I gained from Women’s Studies have been invaluable to my graduate studies and to my work as a policy analyst for the provincial government. I have brought to my post-Laurentian years the ability to raise and articulate issues of equity, particularly in formulating social policy, and these skills were nurtured in Women’s Studies.

--Susan Vanstone B.A. Women’s Studies 1993

I have worked for Trans/Formative Services, an agency specializing in feminist psychotherapy for survivors of violence, as a family mediator at the Mediation Centre of Sudbury, and am presently at le Centre Victoria pour femmes, a non-profit organization that serves women affected by violence where I work one-on-one with survivors. The women’s studies program at Laurentian University was instrumental in shaping my understanding of patriarchy as it relates to women’s oppression in a greater societal context. Today, I am very satisfied to be working in my chosen field toward the elimination of gendered violence. An added bonus is that I am able to continue working professionally in psychotherapy and community development in my native town and in a francophone environment!

--Ginette C. Demers, B.A. Psychology and Women’s Studies 1997, B.S.W. 2005