I am a double major in Women and Gender Studies (WGS) and Political Science; however, my true love is Women and Gender Studies. I often get asked what I study as a WGS major and what I plan on doing with my major.

For starters we do not just study women. We study women and across all fields of study. We analyze all aspects of society in terms of gender and sexuality. The most important thing we study is all aspects of identity and how a persons' unique set of identities relates to their privilege and oppression (also known as intersectionality). At Iowa State University, there are WGS classes that cover women and leadership, the economics of discrimination, women throughout American history, and manhood and masculinity. With a Women and Gender Studies Major a person studies different identities and how they interact with society.

While most Women and Gender Studies major's have double majors, it is not a requirement in order to get a job. Most double major's that I have encountered are english. A WGS major also goes well with political science (especially if you want to get into law), sociology, communications, or anything that a person wants to focus more on. A person can work in non-profit, advocate, work in human services, social worker, or literally anything they want to do with only a Women and Gender Studies degree. A WGS major can go on to graduate school, and become a researcher or a professor, or can go on to law school to become a lawyer. I plan to do the latter and hopefully become a human right's lawyer.

Becoming a Women and Gender Studies major was the best decision I have made while at Iowa State. We are a smaller program so I know almost all of my fellow WGS majors. My advisers and professors are all wonderful people and because we are such a small program I feel like we can connect in a way that is not possible for people in larger programs. It gives me a sense of community while attending a school that has more than 36,000 students enrolled.