Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies

What can you do with a Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies degree?

Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) examines how gender, sexuality, identity, and systems of power shape people's lives and communities. Through courses that emphasize cultural humility and multiple perspectives across the humanities, global engagement, social sciences, and natural sciences, you'll explore complex questions from multiple perspectives while developing the research, communication, and critical thinking skills valued in every profession.

Open to students with a wide range of interests, WGSS combines academic study with opportunities for research, internships, and community engagement. Whether you pair the major or minor with another field or pursue it as your primary area of study, you'll graduate prepared to ask thoughtful questions, analyze complex issues, and contribute to meaningful change in your career and community.

Multiple Perspectives

Explore gender and sexuality through courses in history, psychology, economics, anthropology, political science, neuroscience, literature, and more.

Research That Matters

Develop your own research questions and complete Independent Study with one-on-one faculty mentorship.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Connect coursework with internships, practica, student leadership, and community engagement.

Why Study Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Wooster?

Study across the liberal arts with courses offered throughout the College.

Work closely with faculty mentors who help you develop your own research interests.

Prepare for Independent Study through the junior seminar Doing Feminist Research.

Connect theory with practice through internships, practica, and student-led initiatives.

Join a supportive community of students and faculty committed to thoughtful discussion and engaged learning.

Featured Courses

Explore gender and sexuality from local and global perspectives.

Transnational Feminisms
Women, Power & Politics
History of Sexualities
Transgender Literature
Global Politics of Reproduction
Gender & Sexuality in Latin American & Latinx Literature

Women, Culture, & Power in Africa
Neuroscience of Sex and Gender Influences
Global Tourism: The Politics and Violence of Encounters
Manga & Anime in Japan & Global Contexts

Ask your own questions.

Independent Study is at the heart of the WGSS experience. In the junior seminar Doing Feminist Research, you'll learn research methods and approaches used across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences before designing your own senior Independent Study project with the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Recent student research has explored topics including gender testing in professional sports, reproductive justice, youth activism, transgender healthcare, body image, the #MeToo movement, and gender representation in business and economics.

Ready to Explore Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies?

Whether you're interested in law, healthcare, education, public policy, research, or the arts, WGSS helps you understand complex issues, communicate across differences, and approach your work with curiosity, empathy, and evidence.

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Career Opportunities

WGSS graduates build careers in many different fields because they leave Wooster with strong research, communication, and analytical skills.

Graduates have become educators, attorneys, healthcare professionals, policy leaders, nonprofit professionals, economists, counselors, librarians, and community advocates. Others have pursued graduate study in law, social work, economics, psychology, anthropology, public policy, divinity, library science, and public health.

Just as importantly, graduates consistently describe WGSS as a program that influenced how they think, solve problems, and engage with the people and communities around them throughout their lives.

Where Our Alumni Go

WGSS graduates have worked at organizations including:

American Red Cross
Policy Matters Ohio
Paramount Pictures
Charles Schwab
Greater Cleveland Food Bank
Oregon Department of Human Services
Pennsylvania Health Law Project
Newberry Library
Nurturing Nest Montessori School
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities

Graduates have also continued their education at Brown University, Columbia University, George Washington University, Purdue University, Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin, Union Theological Seminary, and other leading institutions.