Explore Research and Funding Opportunities in Women’s Studies
Resources for students and researchers in this eclectic, evolving interdisciplinary field
An article in Ms. magazine (“So You Want to Change the World,” Fall 2012; available from ProQuest Central) asked readers:
What do a civil rights lawyer, project coordinator at a breast cancer nonprofit, taxicab workers' organizer, field representative for a state legislator, a biofuel entrepreneur, research analyst for HW/AIDS policy, sexual-assault-victims' advocate and a male basketball player have to do with women’s studies?
The answer is that women’s studies “values the interplay between scholarship, theory and activism, creating a new type of college student – and teacher – who is civically engaged, globally competent, self-reflective and dexterous in many disciplines.” A background in women’s studies can be the foundation for a career in a diversity of fields, including healthcare, law, education, community advocacy, business, art and more.
Women’s Studies – There’s a dissertation for that!
Since the development of women’s studies classes and programs infused academics with new approaches to learning, including an emphasis on close reading, decentralized classrooms and more service-oriented educational experiences, an array of previously overlooked topics emerged for advanced scholarship.
Topics such as women’s reproductive health. Body image and eating disorders. Dressing for the workplace. Domestic violence. Images of motherhood. The evolution of gender studies programs.
This is just a glimpse at some of the myriad scholarly subjects encompassed in 50 years of advanced research in women’s studies, covered in 30,000 documents expertly curated in ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses Global database:
Rivington, J. (1964). The Utilization of women scientists in Canada. (Order No. EC56089, University of Ottawa (Canada)). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 118.
ATCHESON, L. P. (1977). MENSTRUATION: MYTH, TABOO, BELIEF AND FACT: A PSYCHO-ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF EVALUATIONS OF FEMALE ROLE, CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOR, AS REFLECTED IN MENSTRUAL MYTHS, TABOOS, BELIEFS AND FACTS. (Order No. 7707353, City University of New York). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 290.
SOMMERS, L. D. (1983). BULIMIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE WITH REFERENCE TO DESCRIPTIVE DATA, ETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT. (Order No. 8317061, Biola University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 230.
Valgenti, C. M. (1991). Dressed for success: America's female office workers, 1900-1990. (Order No. EP72513, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 91.
Wright, S. (1995). The legal and economic dynamics of domestic violence. (Order No. 10290476, Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom)). PQDT - Global, 307.
West, L. P. (2003). Welfare queens, soccer moms, and working mothers: The socio-political construction of state child care policy. (Order No. 3103824, Emory University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 447.
Assing-Murray, E. (2006). The feminization of HIV/AIDS: An analysis of its impact on women in Trinidad and Tobago. (Order No. 3211682, American University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 282.
Stanley, J. M. (2013). Gender Studies: The Demise of Feminism or the Vision of an Inclusive Curriculum? (Order No. 3612292, Johnson & Wales University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 142.
Rodriguez, M. (2016). Recreating gender roles: An examination of dating practices among feminist college women. (Order No. 10242960, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 96.
By the way, there’s also funding for that!
In reflection of the versatility of women’s (and gender) studies, numerous funding opportunities are available to support research in the field. A quick search in the Pivot* database using the keywords “gender studies” returns 400+ results in areas overlapping gender issues, women’s studies and social sciences with arts and humanities as well as health and medicine. Funding is available for training and scholarship, curriculum development and postdoctoral research.
Pivot can also be used by researchers to explore comprehensive information about calls for papers with deadlines regarding forthcoming conferences and special issues of scholarly journals. Under the Papers Invited tab, calls for papers are issued by professional bodies, journal editors, and other conference organizers in all disciplines and from all over the world.
Searching “women’s studies” yields dozens of career-enhancing opportunities to participate in conferences or submit articles to journals focused on women’s studies in general, or in such related fields as sociology, technology, psychology and law.
* Pivot is a web-based discovery and workflow tool that combines a comprehensive source of global funding opportunities with the largest collection of scholar profiles into one intuitive solution.
RefWorks increases researcher productivity by simplifying the research experience. It is the one tool that researchers need to gather, organize, read, and cite their research materials. It also makes it easy to collaborate with others on joint projects.
For additional resources on women’s and gender studies, check out GenderWatch, a database spanning content from authoritative perspectives from 1970 to present. This expertly curated collection encompasses over 300 titles, with more than 250 in full-text, from an array of academic, radical, community and independent presses. Researchers and teachers may access more than 219,000 full articles on wide-ranging topics like sexuality, religion, societal roles, feminism, masculinity, eating disorders, healthcare, and the workplace.