Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University
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    Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University

    Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    United States of America
    United States of America, University Park
    University Rank:#82
    Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University

    The Women's Studies is a Bachelor degree offered by Pennsylvania State University across its Main Site, Any Penn State Campus, and University Park campuses in United States of America. The program is delivered on campus as a Full Time course in English and requires approximately 4 years to complete. Students study across its Main Site, Any Penn State Campus, and University Park campuses while gaining the knowledge and practical experience expected for this area of study. The next intake is available from June 1, 2027.

    About Bachelor of Women's Studies

    Women's Studies explores the intersection of identity, social power, and privilege. Concerned with how societies "construct" inequality and social bias, Women's Studies analyzes every aspect of our lives through a critical lens, without filtering out impacts of socio-political inequalities, and lived experiences of women and their families. With cross-listed courses in Anthropology, Communications, Government, History, Psychology, Sociology, Women's Health and more fields, students can approach Women's Studies from almost any direction. Alongside the U.S. history of women and feminist movement, "transnational" feminism offers a wider comparative study of: constructions of gender across cultures; the legal and political standing of women and marginalized populations; the nature and impacts of gender-based violence, mass migration, militarization, climate change, food insecurity and other contemporary challenges on the physical, social and political wellbeing of women around the globe.

    You Might Like This Program If...

    • You want to translate your curiosities, experiences, passions and interests into actionable and meaningful work.
    • You seek out inclusive environments, with persons of different backgrounds, cultures, and races to understand their points of view.
    • You are passionate about gender equity, human rights, and social justice.
    • You want to explore how gender and sexuality play a role in culture, the arts, literature, health, politics, the sciences, law, and education.
    • You see yourself as a change agent in this world!

    This interdisciplinary major is designed to develop a broad understanding of the study of women and women's perspectives in all areas of academic scholarship. The focus is on feminist analyses of women's lives, of women's social, cultural, and scientific contributions, and of the structure of sex/gender systems. The interdisciplinary and inclusive nature of the field is reflected in a curricular structure that includes courses cross-listed with a wide variety of departments, courses that deal with aspects of women's lives throughout history, and courses that recognize the diversities of culture, race, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

    • Career-Related Skills:
      • Describe professional options;
      • Identify personally relevant career options to implement their gender knowledge, critical and communication skills, and feminist values in a variety of settings;
      • Develop a resumé centering around skills relevant to a business-oriented position and to placement in a graduate program.
    • Communication Skills:
      • Communicate effectively (in writing and/or orally) the results of a project or internship;
      • Demonstrate  knowledge and comprehension of major feminist theories;
      • Translate feminist theory and concepts into everyday language.
    • Content Knowledge:
      • Define/explain major concepts underlying women's and gender studies;
      • Describe the basic history of Women's Studies (the "three waves" and beyond);
      • Define feminist concepts and theories;
      • Describe the interdisciplinary nature of the fields of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies;
      • Demonstrate awareness of feminist history and movement outside of the United States, i.e., global or transnational feminism;
      • Summarize the history and fundamental contributions of black feminism in relation to mainstream feminism.
    • Diversity and Ethical Considerations:
      • Name the principles for a feminist classroom (confidentiality, respect of all, disagreeing through reason, not emotion, etc.) and practice them;
      • Integrate knowledge of cultural diversity in the context of human rights frameworks;
      • Apply basic principles of ethics to real-life situations, such as bystander action, or intervening in other forms of prejudice and hate.
    • Research Skills:
      • Differentiate schools of feminist thought, and how research methods vary from one to the other (e.g. feminist literary analysis vs. psychological experimentation and protocols);
      • Integrate research from various academic fields into one's own research and writing;
      • Gain first-hand experience with faculty research (as a research assistant) and/or with working as an intern with a faculty member (as a teaching assistant) or with a diversity-oriented organization (as an intern).
    • Thinking Skills:
      • Use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and (if relevant) quantitative and qualitative research to analyze real life issues related to gender and sexuality, and/or textual analysis (depending on the student's secondary disciplinary focus);
      • Synthesize theoretical concepts;
      • Formulate activist activities based on theoretical principles;
      • Formulate and defend one's own scholarly opinion regarding feminism based on reading, interpreting, and synthesizing the literature;
      • Relate classroom and course knowledge to current events, feminist concepts and theories to research and to real life.

    Disciplines

    Liberal Arts

    Requirements and Admission Criteria for Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University

    Entry Requirements

    Penn State requires the submission of specific academic credentials to complete your application. Review the secondary and post-secondary requirements for your country below.

    If you are a first year student applying to Penn State:

    Click Apply to start your Penn State application. Before starting, you can also review the Applying Online Worksheet for more details and helpful hints about the application.

    Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the Save and Continue button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

    After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR). As you begin the SRAR process, a new window will open allowing you to complete your SRAR. SRAR will focus on your high school coursework. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. Therefore, have a copy of your secondary school records available as you complete your SRAR. You will need to enter every class and every grade earned for the last three years, as well as those classes in progress.

    After completing your SRAR, you will be directed back to the Penn State application in order to complete the Program of Study portion of the application. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for first-year students.

    After completing this section of the application, you will provide some additional information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

    If you are a transfer student applying to Penn State:

    All international transfer students will be required to submit official high school transcripts in order to complete the application. International transfer students will not complete the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) for either their high school or college coursework.

    If you have accepted your offer of admission to Penn State:

    If you completed SRAR and are accepted to Penn State, please provide the following for grade verification:

    • Official transcript from years 9, 10, 11, and 12. If the transcript is issued in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.
    • Official copy of the Tawjihi, accompanied by a separate line-by-line English translation.

    English Requirements

    • IELTSMin 6.5
    • TOEFLMin 80

    Career Opportunities after Completing Bachelor of Women's Studies

    Employers today value effective communication, analytical thinking, and teamwork. With its emphasis on how gender, sexuality, race and other forms of diversity impact the experiences of every individual, the Women's Studies curriculum trains its majors to recognize the impacts of bias and unequal social power in the social, cultural and political arenas. Graduates enter their post-graduate world sensitive to diverse perspectives that can either facilitate or impede team building, problem solving, and negotiation. Women's Studies graduates–no matter where their career paths lead–are committed to the kind of institutional and social change that values all voices, and supports social justice.

    Women's Studies graduates from Penn State work in a wide variety of professions and industries. You will find us in the legal profession (one alumna runs her own legal firm, serving lower-income clients and gender-based discrimination cases). Others work in communications, marketing and advertising, business, banking and human resources. Activist students find their way into non-profits, advocacy groups, government, human development, journalism and communications. Women's health is a dynamic field–medical care, nursing and research positions are out there, as well as health administration. Teaching attracts many of our graduates.

    Opportunities for Graduate Studies

    The scholarly field of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies prepares students to study some of the most complex challenges in a world where gender, race, class, sexuality, and power are always intertwined. As an interdisciplinary field, WGSS spans the arts and sciences, the humanities, and policy fields and provides applicable training for students seeking to continue their studies. Our scholars gain experience as researchers and teachers with the innovative tools to prepare them as leaders across the public, private, and educational sectors.

    MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDIES

    Professional Resources

    • National Women's Studies Association
    • National Organization for Women

    Tuition and Fee Information for Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University

    Application Fee 75

    How to Apply for Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University

    Step 1: Choose Your Application Method

    Apply through MyPennState

    The first step of the application process is to create a Penn State account, if you do not have one already. MyPennState is where future students can access the online application.

    If you are new to MyPennState, you will need to establish a Penn State User ID and password, which you will access during the MyPennState profile creation process. Once you have your log in information, you can sign in to begin work on your application.

    When creating the profile, please use the name that is on your passport. Because materials are filed alphabetically under the family name on the application, it is important that all correspondence and records consistently use the same name (family and given) and spelling. If this name does not match your academic records, please notify us of the difference. Please note: In the U.S., the family name is usually referred to as the last name, and the given name is referred to as the first name.

    Additionally, Penn State requires a current, valid email address, as that is our primary means of communication with international students. To ensure deliverability, please make Penn State (psu.edu) an eligible sender to the account.

    Applying through the Common App

    Applying to Penn State via the Common App is available to first-year (freshman) international students. If applying through the Common App, Penn State will create a MyPennState profile when the application is submitted and you will receive instructions on how to access your profile. If you intend to apply with the Common App, you do not need create a MyPennState profile prior to submitting your application.

    Step 2: Access the Application and Review Important Dates

    While you can create a MyPennState profile at any time, the application for admission becomes available on the following dates:

    Fall/Summer Admission: August 1

    Spring Admission: June 1

    The application submission dates vary by applicant type and intended program of study. Some programs have specific deadlines or admissions requirements. Please refer to our Dates & Deadlines for more information about application deadlines, as well as our Admissions Requirements to review information about any additional materials required for your intended program of study.

    Step 3: Start Your Penn State Application

    If applying through MyPennState:

    Click Apply Online to start your Penn State application. 

    Your application work can be saved at each step of the process by clicking the "Save and Continue" button at the bottom of the page. This feature will allow you to move back and forth within the application or log off and return to complete your application at a later time.

    After completing your Academic History, you will need to provide your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR), unless otherwise directed. You will be directed to enter information about your secondary school coursework. Please have a copy of your secondary school records as you complete SRAR. It is important that this step is a complete and accurate representation of your school record. You will need to enter every grade for every course you have taken in the last three years, as well as your current schedule of classes.

    Students educated in South Korea will not complete SRAR. The document requirements for South Korea can be found by reviewing our International Credential Requirements.

    After this section, you will be directed back to the Penn State application to complete the Program of Study portion. Here, you will indicate your desired starting semester, your intended program of study, and your starting and ending campus. For further details on how to complete this portion based on your applicant type, please see the steps to apply for either first-year students or transfer students.

    After this portion, you will provide some additional application information, an activities resume, and a personal statement. You will be able to paste in this information from other sources, but note that the formatting may not always paste in as intended.

    If applying through the Common App:

    Complete the Common App, which will then direct you to MyPennState to complete SRAR. Applicants using the Common App may feel that they provided their high school record via the Common App, but Penn State requires the completion of SRAR via MyPennState. We strongly encourage you to obtain an official copy of your high school transcript to ensure accurate entry of your coursework completed and grades earned. The SRAR will include all of your high school coursework from your last three years of work and your current year schedule. If your final year grades are available when you enter SRAR, you can enter them at that time.

    Step 4: Submit Your Application

    The application requires a nonrefundable application fee of $75 for international students. Be sure to complete the last step after Summary and Review, which finalizes payment of your fee, and be certain it is successfully submitted. Once the application is submitted, you can verify its completion by accessing your MyPennState profile.

    Step 5: Submit Required Application Materials

    In order to complete your Penn State application, we need the following materials:

    • Application
    • Secondary school record
    • Post-secondary school records (if applicable)
    • First-year applicants only: Official test scores: SAT (code #2660) or ACT (code #3656)

      Writing Component and Subject Tests

      Please note: The writing component of standardized tests (SAT or ACT) is not required. The writing component will not be used as part of our evaluation. If your test scores include the writing component, by all means, have those scores sent to Penn State. Additionally, we do not require SAT Subject Tests.

    • English language proficiency, if your native language is not English

    Please see the admissions requirements for international students to review the details about the required application materials. Some programs require additional items to complete your application. Please review our Admissions Requirements for those details.

    Penn State does not require letters of recommendation, nor are they used in a student’s evaluation (unless required for a specific program).

    Step 6: Check Your Application Status in MyPennState

    You can always check the status of your application in MyPennState. We will communicate with you via MyPennState and through a series of emails regarding the missing items for your application. When everything has arrived, you will see a status in MyPennState confirming the completion of your application.

    Please note: It is your responsibility to check on the status of your application and send us any missing materials.

    Step 7: Receive Your Admission Decision

    Once we have reached a decision regarding your application, we will update your status in MyPennState and provide a printable PDF of your decision letter. Review our Dates & Deadlines to see when you should expect your decision.

    If accepted, you can accept your offer of admission in MyPennState to begin the process of becoming a Penn State student. Visit our Accepted Students section to review the next steps in this process. Once you accept your offer of admission to Penn State, those students completing SRAR will submit their official records for validation purposes as soon as possible.

    Bachelor of Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University
    United States of America

    United States of America, University Park

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