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Women’s and Gender Studies Concentration

Gender is ingrained in almost every aspect of our lives. Women’s and Gender Studies examines how gender shapes social roles, identities, and access to power.

College of Arts & Sciences | On-Campus

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What You'll Learn

Misogyny and sexism touch our homes and workplaces and shape our relationships with friends, family, colleagues, and broader communities. Drake University’s interdisciplinary Women’s and Gender Studies concentration encourages you to think about gender as a construct that intersects with race, sexuality, religion, privilege, and class within historical, multicultural, and global contexts.

In discussion-based courses, faculty from multiple majors at Drake challenge you to reflect critically on your view of the world and your place in it. Beyond contemplating theory, many who participate in this concentration put concepts into action on campus and in our community through self-directed activism.

About the Women’s and Gender Studies Concentration

  • Learn to navigate your own place in a world where diversity, equity, and inclusivity initiatives are increasingly under attack.
  • Explore individual interests and build professional skills through an internship or independent study.
  • The curriculum includes an introductory course and four electives in a wide array of fields.
  • Courses examine the intersection of gender with categories such as race, class, and sexuality.
  • Look beyond your own experience to understand gender in multicultural and global contexts.

Program Facts

  • On campus
  • 18 credits for the minor
  • Open to students in any major or school
  • Many Women’s and Gender Studies courses fulfill other major or Area of Inquiry requirements at Drake

Program Options

Drake’s Women’s and Gender Studies concentration prepares you to join complex social conversations about gender, race, and sexuality and provides you with a skill set that proves to be valuable in a variety of fields.

Women’s and Gender Studies Concentration

Take an unflinching look at contemporary, social, and political issues while engaging with feminist perspectives and practices. Select from courses in fields as diverse as anthropology, English, history, education, philosophy, psychology, and political science.

Meet the Faculty

The 30 faculty members who are part of the Women’s and Gender Studies concentration represent 12 distinct departments and programs. Outside of the classroom, they hold important positions in professional and community organizations, have published books or journal articles, and present their research at national and international conferences.

Jeanette Tran

Jeanette Tran

Associate Professor, English

Dr. Mary McCarthy

Dr. Mary McCarthy

Professor, Political Science

Kevin Lam, Ph.D.

Kevin Lam, Ph.D.

Professor, Urban & Diversity Education; Director of Social Justice in Urban Education Concentration

All Faculty Members

Outside the Classroom

The Women’s and Gender Studies concentration will push you to look at your own major and career choice with a fresh perspective.

A student wearing headphones looks down at their laptop during a class for Drake's Women's and Gender Studies Concentration

Internship

Develop essential professional skills while contributing to a cause you care about. In the past, students have interned with Dress for Success, Planned Parenthood, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa State House of Representatives, ACLU of Iowa, and Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Drake students in a Women's and Gender Studies class review their notes as a presentation plays on a large screen

Independent Study

Pursue a topic you’re passionate about while fulfilling your practicum requirement with an independent study. Recent projects have focused on domestic abuse in American film, gender dynamics in Broadway musicals, patriarchy and sex, and vicarious trauma.

Drake students learn more about how to participate in the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA)

National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA)

Every year, three Drake students receive complimentary memberships to this national leadership organization. Student members pay a discounted rate to attend the annual NWSA conference and can apply for scholarships, conference grants, awards, and prizes.

Careers & Skills

Students in Drake’s Women’s and Gender Studies program come from a wide array of majors, begin careers in just as many fields, or earn graduate degrees that allow them to pursue fulfilling vocations and transform society at various levels.

Regardless of what you study, you’ll build the confidence and critical thinking skills you need to question the world around you and to navigate its complexities as you strive for success.

Opportunities

  • Government
  • Nonprofit agencies
  • Social service agencies
  • Arts organizations
  • Law firms
  • Graduate studies

Skills

  • Fluency in feminist discourses and practices.
  • Ability to reflect critically on gendered constructions of the world and your place in and experience of that world.
  • Become a lifelong learner and peer educator.
Two students interested in Women's and Gender Studies meet in a well-lit room with glass bricks

Salary Growth and Outlook

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Average annual salary for a nonprofit executive director in 2025. (Salary.com)

“The Women’s and Gender Studies faculty encouraged and guided me, facilitating my internship at the Justice Restoration Center, which is a law firm that works with human trafficking survivors. The program also taught me about leadership in activism through opportunities to create awareness events and panels. My WGS concentration was a formative experience for me.”
Madison Glennie, AS‘18
English and Law, Politics, and Society

Related Programs

WGS is one of the most academically diverse programs at Drake. Either pursue it as a concentration or declare a second major in one of the disciplines that form its core.

Art History, BA

Studies art across cultures and time periods, emphasizing critical analysis and historical context for careers in museums, education, or research.

Anthropology and Sociology, BA

Explores cultural diversity and social structures through research and theory, equipping students to analyze global and local social issues.

International Relations, BA

Study political science, economics, history, and international law in an interdisciplinary major that prepares you for careers in diplomacy, law, politics, and business.

Take the Next Step

In Drake’s Women’s and Gender Studies concentration, you’ll examine the ways gender affects each of us while gaining the tools to advocate for a more just and equitable future.

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Two Drake students talk about Women's and Gender Studies topics during a walk through campus