WGS – A Lucrative Degree After All
Many believe women, gender, and sexuality studies (WGS) to be a useless, lazy degree. A degree that can’t prepare you for a “real” job. Senator Ted Cruz blasted such degrees in a recent speech where he mocked Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. Cruz, among others, believe that because people with a WGS degree run studies on things such as the statistics surrounding queer pet owners vs. their straight counterparts, it’s not worth the time or money spent.
However, WGS will prepare a student for many careers—college administration, non-profit work, publishing, advertising, and more. Perhaps the confusion lies where many don’t know what the degree entails. Professor Deborah Cohan from the University of South Carolina – Beaufort, outlined the degree perfectly, saying: “Gender studies focuses on the ways gender identity and sexual orientation shape behaviors and feelings, and it investigates power dynamics that relate to sex. This field includes men’s studies, women’s studies and queer studies, and occasionally addresses widespread social concerns such as domestic violence.”
One way many use this degree is for the LGBTQ community. Studies involving the community and what makes it tick have become more and more frequent in recent years. Many of these studies have focused on how many queer individuals are pet owners, and why members of the LGBTQ community feel so connected to their furry friends. One study shows over 70% of queer people are pet owners. Another connects why pets are so important to young LGBTQ+ individuals. Angela Matijczak, a doctoral student who aided in this research, says: “Comfort from pets… moderated the relationship between interpersonal microaggressions and depressive symptoms.”
Holders of WGS degrees made very important discoveries of how humans work. They are also given the skills to properly communicate what they learn, such as through social work, or even journalism. Magazines, such as OFM are a great use of a WGS degree. A career in this field allows people to work with the data they spent years studying and give people a higher understanding of themselves. So while many may think of the degree as lazy or impractical, it’s actually a very important line of work.
