Ohio State is in the process of revising websites and program materials to accurately reflect compliance with the law. While this work occurs, language referencing protected class status or other activities prohibited by Ohio Senate Bill 1 may still appear in some places. However, all programs and activities are being administered in compliance with federal and state law.

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) offers an undergraduate major and three undergraduate minors:

Our undergraduate programs prepare students to use an intersectional lens to critique and analyze social, cultural, political, economic and scientific assumptions and practices that produce and maintain relations of inequality. WGSS students understand the ways in which people in all their diversity are affected by society, culture, and its institutions and can then affect social change.

WHY WGSS AT OHIO STATE? 

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR 

Now more than ever, WGSS helps us to ask and answer the most pressing questions of our time. With a commitment to analyzing relationships of power, challenging forms of oppression, and building knowledge that liberates, WGSS gives us the tools to understand our world. WGSS is a field born from struggle, and our departmental community strives to honor and build upon that legacy. WGSS has been a thriving department at Ohio State for the past 50 years and ranks among the top in the nation. The College of Arts and Sciences pledges its full support for the department and continues to support WGSS students. There is no language in Senate Bill 1 about cuts to WGSS major or minor programs. We are here to stay, and we invite you to join us! Consider a major or minor in WGSS, or a minor in LGBTQ+ Studies or in Women, Gender, and Public Policy. –Professor Mytheli Sreenivas 

A MESSAGE FROM A WGSS MAJOR 

This major was one of the best decisions I could have ever made for myself because it stretches how you think and therefore how you approach your day-to-day life, as well as how you approach others. It empowers you as an individual, as a student, and embraces who you are while providing a sense of academic rigor that challenges your mind and perception of what’s around you. –Evelyn S. (class of 2026) 

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A WGSS DEGREE? A LOT! 

If you are wondering, “what can I do with a WGSS degree?” The answer is: a LOT! For example, our feminist change-makers are thriving across a diverse array of fields and pathways, working in nearly 2,000 different professional areas (BLS). WGSS graduates go on to become physicians, lawyers, fundraising professionals, financial managers, professors, and so much more! If you want to hear from a few, please read about the incredible work WGSS alumni have been doing since graduating from Ohio State (link).

Our graduates thrive in part due to the classroom experiences and career skills developed while taking Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies courses. For instance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that skills demonstrated by Cultural & Gender Studies graduates include active listening, reading comprehension, speaking, writing, and critical thinking. In addition, time management, responsible and effective decision-making, service orientation, as well as creative problem solving were noted. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) indicates that more than 9 in 10 employers desire to hire graduates who completed interdisciplinary studies programs, such as WGSS, for the critical thinking, service, and collaboration skills fostered.

Additionally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual income of graduates with degrees from departments like OSU’s WGSS program is $63,000, in line with the median salary for all graduates with bachelor’s degrees ($66,000). Also promising, Data USA’s five-year salary estimate (2018-2022) reports that the average wage for Cultural and Gender Studies degree-holders is $93,000! 

For those looking to pursue advanced degrees, be aware that 53% of gender studies majors go on to receive Masters, PhDs and other terminal degrees. This is well above the 38% average for all other bachelor programs (Baker et al., 2025). To learn more about Ohio State’s WGSS MA & PhD programs, check out our prospective graduate students page.

References

Tailor your degree to your interests.  

A WGSS major or minor provides students with the flexibility to build a unique curricular plan that aligns with their interests and career aspirations. The following categories are not tracks or concentrations; rather, they are guides to help students in selecting coursework.  

  • WGSST 3385 S: Women in Political Leadership Internship 

  • WGSST 4465: Feminist Political Theory  

  • WGSST 4513: Women, Government and Public Policy  

  • WGSST 3200: Gender & Law

  • WGSST 4403: Gender, Race and Leadership 

  • WGSST 4597: Gender and Democracy in the Contemporary World  

  • WGSST 2325: Health and Inequality   

  • WGSST 2326 S: Feminist Perspective on Addiction  

  • WGSST 4189.01 S: Reproductive Rights and Justice  

  • WGSST 4404: Regulating Bodies: Global Sexual Economies 

  • WGSST 2215: Reading Women Writers  

  • WGSST 2230: Gender, Sexuality and Race in Popular Culture  

  • WGSST 2317: Gender at the Movie: Hollywood and Beyond  

  • WGSST 2381: Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Spanish Speaking Film and TV  

  • WGSST 4527.01: Studies in Gender and Cinema (Comedy, Horror, or the Musical!) 

  • WGSST 2900: Data Feminism  

  • WGSST 3306: Gender, Media and New Technologies   

  • WGSST 4845: Gender, Sexuality and Science 

  • WGSST 2260: Queer Ecologies: Gender, Sexuality and the Environment  

  • WGSST 3101: Food and Gender 

  • WGSST 2305: A World of Gender and Sexualities 

  • WGSST 2340: ¡Sí Se Puede! Latinx Gender Studies  

  • WGSST 2750: Natives and Newcomers: Immigration and Migration in U.S. History  

  • WGSST 3370: Sexualities and Citizenship 

  • WGSST 3505: Transnational Feminisms 

  • WGSST 4401: Asian American Women: Race, Sex and Representations 

  • WGSST 4405: Race and Sexuality 

  • WGSST 4540: Women of Color: Art, Literature and Culture  

  • WGSST 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies 

  • WGSST 2367.03: U.S. Lesbian Writers: Text and Context 

  • WGSST 3280: Trans Studies 

WGSS Goals for Undergraduate Students

The successful student will be able to question common-sense, dominant assumptions about what seems “natural,” “timeless,” “universal,” “human,” and “normal,” by critically speaking, thinking, writing, and reading.

The successful student will be able to work and learn compassionately and collaboratively.

The successful student will be able to understand “feminisms” as interdisciplinary, creative, theoretical and social movements.

The successful student will be able to understand and critically engage categories of social difference (such as but not limited to gender, sexuality, race, class, language, ethnicity, nation, empire, geography, and (dis)ability) as intersectional, always shifting, and shaped by hierarchies of power.

The successful student will be able to understand the interconnections between the local and the global.

The successful student will be able to recognize, analyze and critique their position and identity in society, thereby understanding the potential to imagine themselves and act creatively as feminist agents of social change.

Questions? Want to declare?

If you are interested in declaring a major in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies or have additional questions, please schedule an appointment with an advisor:

“There is a lot of anxiety that has been expressed by students related to the current legislation being introduced in Ohio and how that will affect the validity of their WGSS degree. 

While your concerns are totally valid and the world is a very scary place right now, I can say with complete confidence that your degree will continue to remain credible. 

I would even argue that in light of all of the current events a WGSS degree is more valuable than ever, as it will give you the tools needed to continue to fight against the seemingly never-ending oppression and injustice that living in 2024 brings. 

This is not the first time Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies has been attacked, and unfortunately it is likely not the last. 

Ohio State’s WGSS department is one of the greatest in the country, and a degree from our institution will always be considered impressive, important, and valuable.”

— Zoe Shook, Triota President, WGSS Undergraduate Studies Committee Representative, & WGSS Minor