Gender and Sexuality Studies 

Overview

The goal of this Gender and Sexuality Studies program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI)  is to foster critical and creative analysis of the various disciplinary perspectives—historical, political, economic, representational, technological, and scientific—that have constituted women, gender, and sexuality as objects of study. 

By emphasizing a rigorous interdisciplinary perspective in their teaching and research, the Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty seek to produce new knowledge about the social meanings of gender, race, class, and sexuality, and to equip students with a range of analytical and methodological skills.

The field of Gender and Sexuality Studies grew out of Women’s Studies, an interdisciplinary field that developed at a phenomenal rate from a handful of student-initiated courses in the early 1970s to more than 600 programs in colleges and universities across the United States offering degrees at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. levels. UCI’s Department of Women’s Studies was founded as a program in 1975 and has grown significantly since that time. 

To reflect its expanding scope of inquiry, the department changed its name in 2014 to the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies. The Department offers a B.A. in Gender and Sexuality Studies, a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, a minor in Queer Studies, and a graduate emphasis in Feminist Studies.

Gender and Sexuality Studies provides a unique intellectual community for undergraduate and graduate students, where faculty and students share a commitment to interactive teaching and learning. Students work closely with faculty to plan a coherent program of study and to anticipate work toward advanced degrees and a wide variety of career options.

Career

A degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies prepares students for multidisciplinary opportunities in graduate degree programs and for numerous careers in both the public and private sectors. Businesses, corporations, government and educational institutions increasingly find the need for expert knowledge about gender and sexuality. 

The growth of organizations and agencies that deal with women's, gender, and LGBTQ+ rights issues—at the local, national, and global levels—is expanding opportunities for graduates with degree specializations in Gender and Sexuality Studies. GSS graduates bring unique skills and knowledge to the professions of law, medicine, social work, education, counseling, and to government service, all of which increasingly require expertise on issues concerning gender and sexuality. Students of Gender and Sexuality Studies develop critical and analytical skills that prove valuable in the full range of innovative career, employment, and philanthropic/humanitarian/social justice choices.