Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies became an official college major for students at San José State in Fall of 2023 after only being a minor for the past half century.
This program is a part of SJSU’s department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.
The curriculum teaches students how gender and gender identity, race, class, sexuality and nation shape lives according to the SJSU website.
Tanya Bakhru, a professor of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program was the primary author of the proposal to establish the major.
“We were having more and more students interested in that concentration,” Bakhru said. “It suggested that now might be a good time to transition (our) own major.”
Bakhru said students could either minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality studies or major in sociology and have a concentration in the studies.
The program was established in 1972 as the Women Studies Program, according to an SJSU research guide.
Courses under the established Women Studies Program were in the department called the Interdisciplinary Social Science, according to a 2019 Spartan Daily article by Jonathan Austin.
In 2012, program merged with the sociology department which changed the name from Women's Studies Program to the current Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, according to the same article.
Bakhru said transitioning the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies to a major was different than starting from scratch.
“We went through a process that was called ‘elevating the concentration to a major,’ ” Bakhru said.
Elevating a concentration to a major is when a department can decide if an existing concentration program has a chance to become a full degree program, according to the Cal State East Bay website.
The process includes developing a formal proposal following specific requirements outlined by SJSU according to an SJSU webpage.
After developing the proposal it then gets routed for approval to several committees and individuals, according to the same webpage.
“It took maybe six months to write the report,” Bakhru said. “Then once it was submitted it took about a year to get (approval).”
Bakhru said four other Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies faculty members helped to provide input and feedback in the proposal.
Susana Gallardo, an assistant professor for the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program was one faculty member who was involved in the construction of the proposal.
“We’re a class that students don’t necessarily think of taking,” Gallardo said. “But when they do take us, often as a G.E., they leave and they’re like ‘Wow, that was really good.’ ”
The major requires individuals to take 39 units, some of which are general education requirements, according to the SJSU website.
Some general education courses include: Sex, Power and Politics, The Global Study of Women and Women of Color in the U.S., according to the SJSU Course Catalog.
“Even if you’re not able to do the major, the minor is always a really great option, it’s 15 units,” Bakhru said. “Several of those can double count as GE classes anyway.”
There are a variety of pathways individuals can pursue when majoring in Womens, Gender and Sexuality Studies, according to the department’s WGSS@SJSU FAQ pamphlet.
“In terms of careers, (the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major can lead you into) different types of community service (and) community organization (roles,)” Gallardo said.
She said career pathways also include general liberal art sectors and also mental health work.
Bakhru said skills and concepts that students learn in this major are also transferable to any job, unless students are in a highly specialized degree program.
“(It’s) relevant no matter if you went into the nonprofit sector, the corporate sector, into teaching,” Bakhru said. “Issues of gender, sexuality, race and class are pervasive. They're everywhere.”
Skills that students can acquire is coalition building, contribution of social change based on feminist frameworks, along with cultivating critical thinking and dialogue, according to the SJSU website.
Gallardo said having this program as a major allows for teachers to get to know the student, mentor them, advise them and prepare students to go into the workforce.
Jessica Short, the coordinator for SJSU’s Gender Equity Center, said she thinks that Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies is a great major or minor.
“It expands your horizons, it would make you more in tune with social issues happening within our culture and our worlds,” Short said.
Gallardo said the program is planning a celebration in the Fall of 2025, some outreach events and potentially bringing back some previous lecturers and faculty.
Bakhru said as of right now there are 20 admitted students who have declared Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies as their major.
“More important now than ever is for us to uplift people who are fighting for reproductive justice,” Short said, “Fighting for women's rights and fighting for education to happen in schools.”
