Despite political attacks, new data shows graduates of cultural and gender studies programs are thriving—equipped with the skills most in demand in today’s workforce.
As faculty in women’s, gender and sexuality studies, as well as additional interdisciplinary fields, we enjoy any opportunity to celebrate the successes of our graduates. While career goals are just one type of success, we admire and appreciate their work as entrepreneurs, educators, artists, clergy, social workers, counsellors, healthcare workers, librarians, journalists, judges and lawyers, and many other careers.
And yet, as politicians and political pundits tell it, gender studies and other critical interdisciplinary fields like Africana studies, Indigenous studies and disability studies, are superfluous. One proponent of defunding many fields in the humanities and social sciences referred to them as “useless degrees” or “garbage fields.”
We have seen these kinds of attacks play out under authoritarian regimes in Hungary and Russia, and now, the U.S.
Calls to eliminate “gender ideology,” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and social justice at large have ramped up sharply in the U.S. over the past few months under the Trump administration. As sociologist Laurie Essig asserts, “Regimes attacking democracy know one thing: You can’t control a population that questions power.”
These claims that degrees in fields like gender studies are “useless” directly conflict with the government data collected on our graduates. This data clearly demonstrates that the education students receive in critical interdisciplinary classrooms provides them with a strong, flexible foundation to adapt to societal and economic changes.
What if we shifted the conversation about pursuing a degree in gender studies and similar interdisciplinary programs, to the proposition that they might be the antidote we all need in this moment of political instability? Far from finding their degrees “useless,” our graduates are ahead of the curve and well poised to contribute in myriad ways to building a healthier, more vibrant and just nation.
Essential Skills for the Future
According to U.S. government metrics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “Occupational Outlook Handbook” (OOH), based on the American Community Survey (ACS) in 2022, the top skills demonstrated by “Cultural & Gender Studies” graduates are active listening, reading comprehension, speaking, writing and critical thinking.
Not far behind are critical skills like social perceptiveness, active learning, service orientation, judgement and decision making, time management and complex problem solving.
These so-called “soft skills” align with what employers report that they look for in recent graduates. The Career Readiness Competencies metric, developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), concludes that the skills employers value most are communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership and teamwork. More than nine in 10 employers cite the importance of hiring graduates who have gained knowledge through interdisciplinary study and addressing “real-life” problems while in college.
“The Career-Ready Graduate: What Employers Say About the Difference College Makes” by the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) places these expectations in the context of the current political landscape:
Not since the McCarthy era has there been such debate about what should and should not be taught in college classrooms. [Yet] there is broad consensus among employers, regardless of age, position or party affiliation, that the consideration of diverse perspectives is relevant for workforce preparation….Being surrounded by co-workers who think or look just like you is the exception, not the rule. In an expansive global economy, the ability to interact across increasingly diverse contexts, cultures and backgrounds will only heighten the need for greater levels of empathy and critical listening skills for workforce success.
But despite the importance of these skills, NACE’s “Job Outlook 2024” shows significant differences between what employers report as most important versus what they identify as the proficiency in recent graduates for each skill area. Communication skills, for instance, is something 99.5 percent of employers desire, yet they only assessed recent graduates’ proficiency in this area at 55.2 percent. Similarly, the importance of other key skills like teamwork, critical thinking, professionalism, equity and inclusion, career and self-development and leadership were all ranked at higher value than the proficiency employers observed.
The only career readiness competency where employers saw a higher proficiency than the level of importance they accorded it to, was technology. This runs directly counter to pundits who argue that technical skills are what college graduates lack.
Rather, the attributes that employers say are most important for job seekers to display are the ones employers generally find lower proficiency in during the hiring process. These skills are all ranked well above technical skills, computer skills and entrepreneurial skills in terms of importance.
In recent years, students have been taking courses in fields like gender studies in even higher numbers. We expect those interest levels to remain steady as young people continue to demand equal rights…
Even a report on the fast-paced development of machine learning and AI, “Robot-Ready: Human+ Skills for the Future of Work,” highlights the integration of human and technological skills. The report concludes that skills like leadership, communication and problem solving are some of the most in-demand, and the ability to be a lifelong learner will outpace specific technical skills:
Workers will need to return to learning throughout their work lives. They’ll need to be flexible and agile, able to shift and grow… It’s also increasingly clear that the skills that cannot be easily automated—such as systems thinking, creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and communication—will be the ones needed to succeed in the future.
Similarly, the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report 2025” highlights the importance of having “an agile, innovative and collaborative workforce, where both problem-solving abilities and personal resilience are critical for success.” Interdisciplinary degrees that teach these often intangible skills provide our students with a foundational degree that gives them the skills to pursue many career paths throughout their lives.
And Our Graduates Are Thriving …
According to the latest data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual income for graduates with degrees across cultural and gender studies is $63,000, similar to the median for all graduates with a bachelor’s degree at $66,000.
Graduates work in a wide variety of areas—the BLS’ “Occupational Outlook Handbook” reports nearly 2,000!
The top-employing sectors for graduates with these degrees boasted high projected growth, such as post-secondary health specialty teachers (19 percent growth projected), management analysts (11 percent) and social and community service managers (8 percent).
Perhaps because of their diverse array of career paths, Data USA’s five-year salary estimate (2018-2022) is that the average wage for cultural and gender Ssudies degree-holders is actually closer to $93,000.
Since 53 percent of cultural and gender studies majors have an advanced degree, compared to 38 percent for all fields, their high-paying occupations include positions like physicians, lawyers, fundraising professionals and financial managers. However, the largest group of graduates (40 percent) work in occupations from the “Other” category, a testament to the wide variety of career trajectories. Many have also paused work to focus on raising children or caring for relatives, or even worked part-time, another thing that the national data shows that Cultural and Gender Studies graduates do more often.
Whether fresh out of college or later in their careers, these graduates’ leadership potential has also received attention.
Drawing from the largest global database of women’s and gender studies’ graduates, Michele Tracy Berger and Cheryl Radeloff’s work, Transforming Scholarship: Why Women’s and Gender Studies Students are Changing Themselves and the World, identifies that 72 percent of these students were active in campus, local, national and global organizations while pursuing their undergraduate degree. These undergraduate experiences of guiding teams, coordinating events, building campaigns, managing finances and participating in governance prepared students well for success far beyond the classroom.
Throughout the book, stories from students and alums underscore the impact of their degrees in helping them make contributions they find meaningful both professionally and personally.
Time to Recommit and Support Women’s, Gender and Sexuality, Ethnic, Africana, Indigenous and Disability Studies Graduates
Clearly, based on this national and international data, programs in women’s and gender studies, ethnic studies and the like offer students a foundation that allows them to pursue a diverse range of paths post-graduation. Students graduate with a crucial set of skills that allows them to thrive across many professions and, by their own reports, find meaning in the work they do.
In the current climate of anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQ+ efforts aimed at higher education and beyond, we understand that many parents, recent graduates and college students are wondering what will become of the institutions and degrees they’ve committed four years of their lives to. Prospective students have even more to weigh as they contend with an uncertain economy and withdrawal of federal funds from higher education, which will undoubtedly impact their future education and career opportunities. But they need not give up on the crucial interdisciplinary fields that have a proven track record of success.
In recent years, students have been taking courses in fields like gender studies in even higher numbers. We expect those interest levels to remain steady as young people continue to demand equal rights and push back against efforts to dismantle programs that support diversity, equity and inclusion.
But, at the same time, we know that some institutions are considering the elimination, merger or significant change to these programs in response to increased scrutiny by the current administration. We urge institutions to assert their commitment to engaging students in critical thinking outside the confines of traditional academic disciplines and acknowledge the data proving these interdisciplinary programs’ successes.
It is also critical that we boldly challenge the lawmakers and other naysayers who are intent on attacking these fields with arguments built on false logic and inflammatory rhetoric. Rather than lacking utility, these fields are exactly what we need in times of uncertainty.
Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs for our series, ‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom.’ Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections (between 500-800 words) to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com. Posts will be accepted on a rolling basis.
