Careers
Recent changes in policies and practices in the public and private sectors have led to an increasing number of job possibilities for people knowledgeable about women and gender issues. Personnel offices, human resources, public policy, government, police forces, social services agencies and educational institutions are all interested in employees with such knowledge, especially for positions dealing with employment equity and sexual harassment.
Women and Gender Studies courses can also help to prepare you for careers in areas such as law, medicine, business, politics, community action, social policy and planning, fine arts, teaching and research.
Laurier's Career Development Centre can help you plan for life after university. The Career Development Centre exists to ensure that career development is an integral part of your Laurier experience. Our programs and services are available to both students and alumni of Laurier.
Online Resources
- Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches Feministes (WGSRF)
- Canadian Women’s Foundation
- BPW Ontario
- Kitchener-Waterloo Business Women’s Association
- Women in Communications and Technology
- UN Women
More career resources are available through the Career Centre’s Navigator portal.
Discover Career Opportunities
Sample Career Options
Note: Additional training and education may be required.
- children's rights advocate
- community development
- corrections officer
- counsellor/therapist
- crisis worker/intake/referral
- discrimination investigator
- educator
- equity officer
- human resources
- lawyer/paralegal
- multi-cultural coordinator
- non-profit organization director
- outreach worker
- policy analyst
- social policy researcher
- social worker
- student services officer
- victims advocate
- women's centre organizer
Sample Industries / Types of Employers
- community organizations
- educational organizations
- financial organizations
- government
- health organizations
- media organizations
- public policy departments
Laurier Grads are Successful
Sample Jobs within the First Year After Graduation
- curriculum assistant
- executive assistant
- fundraising assistant
- marketing communications coordinator
- residential education coordinator
Sample Further Education Programs within the First Year After Graduation
- Master’s degree: Cultural Analysis and Social Theory, Education, Social Work.
- College program: Public Relations, Advanced Police Studies, Community Outreach and Development, Victimology.
- JD: Law.
Careers of Alumni Two-Five Years After Graduation
- adult education facilitator
- creative services coordinator
- event planner
- human resources
- resource development manager
- respite worker
Develop Your Knowledge and Skills
Employers have identified these top four skills as important when evaluating entry-level candidates. As a Laurier student, you gain these skills through the opportunities available to you.
Functional Knowledge
- Conduct analyses of gender in relationship to power that recognize the intersectionality of privilege and oppression rooted in race, class, age, ability, sexuality and ethnicity, nationality and indigeneity.
- Engage in interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge that allow for both creative thinking and the synthesis of these various approaches for productive debates.
- Locate feminist movements and their histories socially and politically as they pertain to a national and international context.
- Utilize key research methodologies, including textual and cultural analyses, to understand and apply both historical and contemporary theories relevant to feminist scholarship.
- Use feminist concepts, methodological skills and theory to understand and analyze both your own life and the world around you.
- Develop self-reflexivity about the politics and ethics of knowledge production, including the significance of social and political locations, and identify the inevitable gaps and partiality of knowledge.
Collaboration/Teamwork Skills
- Work effectively as part of a team by identifying your role and contributing, leading, teaching, motivating and/or encouraging others for team success.
- Oversee, lead and/or contribute to a project including determining goals, planning details, making decisions and completing tasks.
- Demonstrate professional behaviour and an understanding of individual perspectives and diversity.
Communication Skills
- Probe for information by asking questions and listening, and engage in constructive conversations.
- Prepare interesting and informative reports and presentations for diverse audiences using current technology.
- Articulate critical arguments in a clear and concise manner in individual, collaborative, oral and written projects.
Problem-Solving Skills
- Identify and access a wide range of relevant information and resources.
- Learn, understand and critically interpret information and apply knowledge to new situations.
- Set priorities, meet deadlines and manage time, data and resources.
- Make well-reasoned decisions, think creatively, identify and consider all sides of an issue.
- Analyze and evaluate data to discuss, support and/or question ideas, opinions, reports, theories and proposals.