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Mount Allison University

Careers in feminist and gender studies

What can I do with feminist and gender studies?

The quick answer is well, anything! The Feminist and Gender Studies program at Mount Allison University provides students with the foundation and the tools to pursue a wide range of further education, careers, and interests in areas such as:

  • graduate school
  • midwifery
  • teaching
  • policy analysis
  • health care and health research
  • law
  • librarianship
  • community organizing
  • social work
  • counselling professions
  • journalism
  • international aid
  • human resources
  • research

As Kelly Brennan (‘08) remarked:

"…my university education came from my women's studies courses simply because the interdisciplinary nature of the program is so diverse and because the subject matter is so eye opening. My life is forever changed from the things I have learned in my women's studies classes, which will shape the way I look at myself, my career choices, and my future plans. Women's studies led me to a summer job at a women's resource centre, which then directed me towards a career in social work. Women's studies has also made me strong enough to call myself a feminist."

A few things some Mount Allison feminist and gender studies students have done following graduation:

  • Masters program in women's and gender studies at Queen's University and University of Alberta
  • Midwifery school
  • Bachelor of education programs
  • Law school, Dalhousie University
  • Master's program in art therapy, political science, history, disability studies, environmental studies, environmental science, public health, counselling, psychology, and more
  • Parliamentary internship, Ottawa
  • Personal assistant to Senator Roméo A. Dallaire
  • Teaching in Nunavut and Seoul, South Korea
  • Co-ordinator of the Feminist Research Group, University of Windsor

Help at Experiential Learning and Career Development

Mount Allison University has a career services co-ordinator who offers a wide variety of services to students and to potential employers of students. Please visit the career planning website for more information or follow Mount Allison Careers on Facebook.

Graduate studies

Many universities in Canada, the United States, and Europe offer graduate programs (masters and PhDs) in women's and gender studies.

Canada's national organization, Women's and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministes, keeps a list of all programs in Canada.

The National Women's Studies Association (U.S.) has a list of all PhD programs in Canada and the US.

Students can also consult:

  • Women's Studies Programs, Departments and Research Centers Worldwide
  • Artemis Guide to Women's Studies in the U.S.
Universities offering graduate studies

Life after Mount Allison

Find out where some of our alumni have gone after graduation.

Sheena Costain (’12)

Currently working at the Department of Justice and Correctional Services. She was offered the opportunity to write a proposal for the Status of Women in attempt to launch a leadership program for young women in the James Bay area. 

Find out more

On how women’s and gender studies shaped her perspectives and life in general:

“I was one of the few students in high school who had their career-path mapped out before heading into university; but things change, and it was only my last year or so at MtA that I realized my true passion in life was women’s and gender studies. It was one of those ‘ah-ha!’ moments for me — as if it had been there all along, but I just hadn’t paid any mind until then.

"Minoring in WGST allowed me to scrutinize the world around me in a whole new way: not only did my views of research processes change drastically, but I became heightened to the monumental ways society and history shapes us to engage with, and react to, women, gender, sexuality, and everything in between. It was as if a curtain was lifted, and there was no way of bringing it back down; I’m permanently transformed, and I now live my life vowing to raise the curtains of others.”

Lydia Blois ('14)

Lydia Blois graduated from Mount Allison with an honours in international relations and a double minor in women’s and gender studies and English literature. While at Mount Allison she was a research assistant for Dr. Marie Hammond-Callaghan and a teaching assistant in the program.

Lydia was the co-ordinator of the Mount Allison chapter of WUSC’s Student Refugee Program, and a co-coordinator of the Centre for International Studies (CIS).

After graduating from Mount Allison Lydia taught English in Paris, France for a year before being accepted to the J.D in Common Law program at the University of Ottawa, where she is entering her second year. She was a current Jaimie Anderson Parliamentary Intern in the office of the Hon. Lisa Raitt, finance critic for the Official Opposition.

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“I would not be who I am today if not for the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Mount A. I started taking gender studies courses in my second year and never looked back; it changed the focus of my honours and changed the way I looked at the world.

"Being a part of the program helped me to be more culturally aware and prepared me to co-ordinate the Student Refugee Program, and directed the way I approached bringing speakers in for the CIS. It also allowed me to explore teaching, deepened my research abilities, and gave me an inside look at what it is like to work within academia.

"Without the critical thinking skills I gained through WGST I would have been much less prepared for the already incredibly steep learning curve of the first year of law school. But beyond academics, WGST at Mount A changed who I am as a person, and opened my eyes to a world outside of my comfort zone; it made me compassionate, critical, open, adaptable and altogether, a better person.”

Martha Kerr ('16)

After graduation Martha worked at YMCA Camp Glenburn outside of Saint John, NB. It was her second summer as the assistant director and she helped facilitate and carry out the camp programming as a whole, as well as dealt with the administration, camper issues, and staff training.

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"I think my time in the Women’s and Gender Studies program influenced the way in which I saw camp and the programming we provided, thus I was able to change the way staff were trained in order to best work with kids and peers in an inclusive and understanding way. 

"During the week-long staff training this year we had a speaker who addressed LGBTQ children’s needs, allyship, and inclusive spaces. We also invited a speaker to discuss sexual assault in the workplace, which had never been talked about in our camp setting. Finally, I facilitated a conversation on language and being positive role models to children who may not have that at home. I really feel I was able to rely on my background in WGST and incorporate that knowledge and passion into my job this summer.

"This fall I am going to teach English in Vietnam and I hope to continue applying women's and gender studies in my teaching practice."