Based on claims made on Women’s Studies program web pages in the U.S.*
Students educated in Women’s Studies are prepared to:

1.   Rethink academic disciplines from the perspective of women’s experiences
2.   Understand differences between women and similarities among them
3.   Articulate differences between feminisms and similarities among them
4.   Creatively pursue a struggle for justice and equality
5.   Articulate the contributions of women to the arts, sciences, humanities, and politics
6.   Support liberation movements that oppose the exploitation of women
7.   Examine the causes and solutions to violence against women
8.   Eliminate forms of illegitimate discrimination between girls and boys
9.   Examine connections between personal issues and larger issues of social
     and political justice
10. Address issues such as sexual harassment, flextime, parental leave, pay equity
     and equal employment opportunities
11. Develop essential civic engagement skills
12. Understand the multiple intersections among racism, sexism, heterosexism
      and homophobia, classism, and other forms of oppression
13. Correct gender bias in academic literature and other cultural texts that
      have omitted, minimized or devalued the contributions of women
14. Seize, promote and sustain opportunities for women’s leadership
15. Develop and refine both critical and abstract thinking
16. Organize and synthesize material in new and effective ways
17. Cultivate communication skills, oral speaking and presentation skills
18. Write clearly and creatively
19. Work collaboratively
20. Become an engaged and active learner
21. Learn new leadership skills
22. Effectively analyze and articulate competing perspectives
23. Practice creative problem solving
24. Apply research to social and cultural issues and identify solutions
25. Confront injustice and oppression
26. Support diverse individual efforts and choices
27. Analyze inequities and initiate change
28. Promote equitable treatment of all members of society
29. Imagine ways of transforming your world
30. Understand and use knowledge about power relationships and injustice
31. Engage in social activism and encourage others to be active
32. Critique and evaluate social issues and problems
33. Analyze cultural events and texts; articulate how they impact people’s lives
34. Develop new agendas for old problems
35. Become a social change agent through discussion, written work,
      collaborative projects and real world involvement
36. Critically analyze gender and the pursuit of knowledge about women
37. Become politically active
38. Critically examine your personal life and public roles
39. Connect what you study with how you live and work
40. Practice collective activism
41. Shape thoughts and actions into a coherent vision of a better, more humane society
42. Create strong families and social relationships
43. Appreciate women, their ideas, their contributions and their resources
44. Empower others to create change
45. Understand language as a means of liberation or discrimination
46. Use, and understand the function of, gender inclusive language in written and
       oral communication
47. Prepare to face a professional environment where women are
       supervisors, colleagues and subordinates
48. Question and challenge dominant ideologies by highlighting the importance
      of traditional women’s spheres, such as nurturing, family and community
49. Proficiently find and use information on contemporary social issues
50. Question social boundaries and expectations
51. Incorporate information technologies and community service learning experiences
52. Develop links to the community, and business and professional sites
53. Foster a deeper connection with community and political life
54. Identify cutting edge issues facing women and articulate their impact
55. Seek out hidden histories and the lessons we might still learn from them
56. Listen to, and work to understand, others’ thoughts and ideas
57. Enter the workforce with open minds about the challenges of the workplace
58. Train the next generations with a better understanding and appreciation of
      our diverse and multicultural world
59. Utilize knowledge to change the world in positive, life-affirming ways

*Data collected October 2005.  All web pages listed in the Artemis Guide to Women’s Studies in the U.S. (www.artemisguide.com) with working web links were consulted.  Colleges/Universities that offered the most accessible and usable information, and therefore are cited herein, were:

    The Alleghany College; California State University, Fullerton; California State University, Long Beach; California State University, San Marcos;  The College of New Jersey; East Tennessee State University; Eastern Michigan University; Loyola Marymount University; Loyola University, New Orleans; Marshall University; Miami University of Ohio; Macalester College; Metropolitan State College of Denver; Regis University; State University of New York, Plattsburgh; Towson University; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of Connecticut; University of Illinois, Springfield; University of Michigan; University of Minnesota; University of Nebraska, Omaha; University of Southern Maine; University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee;  Washington State University.