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Maryanne Dever
Centre for Women's Studies and Gender
Research, Monash University
'"The ability to see through bullshit": How students characterised
the
vocational gains from Women's Studies (or why we need not be anxious)'.
This paper addresses the perennial question of 'what do you with Women's
Studies?' Consideration of our students' post-graduation experiences in
general, and their vocational aspirations in particular, would seem to
be essential if we are to maintain some meaningful fit between our
professed teaching and learning objectives in Women's Studies, our
students' needs and aspirations, and the wider context in which
important educational and vocational decisions are now being negotiated.
This paper reflects on findings from a 3yr research project "Negotiating
Feminist Futures: Women's Studies Students, Careers and Employment"
which surveyed over 700 students across Australia, the UK and the USA on
their reasons for choosing Women's Studies, their career aspirations and
their understanding of the vocational potential of the knowledge and
skills developed in Women's Studies. The project also involved
interviews with recent graduates and with employers and careers
advisers. Findings from this research project demonstrate that we
probably have little to fear from inquiring into this realm and that we
need to find productive ways to intervene in and hopefully transform the
existing terms in which discussions about vocations, graduates and the
employment outcomes take place.
Bio:
Maryanne Dever is Director of the Centre for Women's Studies and Gender
Research at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research on
feminist pedagogy and the field of women's studies has appeared in the
journals Women's Studies Quarterly, Feminist Teacher, The European
Journal of Women's Studies and The Asian Journal of Women's Studies. She
has also contributed chapters to 'Meeting the Challenge: Innovative
Feminist Pedagogies in Action', edited by Ellen Cronan Rose and Maralee
Mayberry (Routledge, 1999) and 'Women's Studies On Its Own', edited by
Robyn Wiegman (Duke UP, 2002).
<Maryanne.Dever@Arts.monash.edu.au>