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Fully Funded PhD Programs in Gender Studies

As part of our series  How to Fully Fund Your PhD , here is a list of universities that offer fully funded PhD programs in Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, and Sexuality Studies. Earning a PhD in Gender Studies can aid the pursuit of careers in education, health and social services, public service, philanthropy, and many more. Below is a list of universities that fully fund their students across the United States, and that offer research opportunities, insurance plans, and more.

“Full funding” is a financial aid package for full-time students that includes full tuition remission as well as an annual stipend or salary during the entire program, which is usually 3-6 years. Funding usually comes with the expectation that students will teach or complete research in their field of study. Not all universities fully fund their doctoral students, which is why researching the financial aid offerings of many different programs, including small and lesser-known schools both in the U.S. and abroad, is essential.

Would you like to receive the full list of more than 1000+ fully funded programs in 60 disciplines?  Download the FREE Directory of Fully Funded Graduate Programs and Full Funding Awards !

The  ProFellow database  for graduate and doctoral study also spotlights external funding opportunities for graduate school, including dissertation research, fieldwork, language study, and summer work experiences.

Emory University Fully Funded PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Emory University, based in Atlanta, Georgia offers a fully funded PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The program also includes other important aspects of identity, including race, ethnicity, religion, class, disability, nationality, and sexuality. All admitted students receive 5 years of fellowship support. Standard tuition scholarship fully covers tuition costs and enrollment fees. Students will also receive an annual stipend paid over twelve months as well as subsidized health insurance. Additional fellowships may be awarded to exceptional students, increasing the amount of stipend for the full 5 years.

Indiana University Fully Funded PhD in Gender Studies

Indiana University, based in Bloomington, IN offers a fully funded PhD in Gender Studies. The department offers both a PhD major and a PhD minor in Gender Studies. This institution also emphasizes integrative and transdisciplinary modes of analysis for the study of sexualities and sexual identities. Indiana University offers a variety of graduate student fellowships and assistantship packages on a competitive basis. Accepted students will receive packages consisting of five years of funding through teaching assistantships and/or fellowship stipends, along with fee remission and health insurance.

Ohio State University Fully Funded PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Ohio State University, based in Columbus, OH offers a fully funded PhD in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Graduate coursework prepares students for the intellectual capacity to read for their tailored candidacy exams and design and implement dissertations projects. With rare exceptions, the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies offers full funding during the Autumn and Spring semesters of the academic year for all admitted PhD students, including international students. This funding will come through a Graduate Associateship or a fellowship that includes tuition and fee waivers, a health insurance subsidy, and a nine-month stipend for five to six years.

Rutgers University Fully Funded PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, offers a fully funded PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The PhD program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies provides advanced and systematic coursework investigating the multidimensional aspects of gender and sexuality. All students admitted to the PhD Program are funded for five years through fellowships and teaching assistantships or Graduate Research Assistantships. Additional work and research opportunities are available in the units of the Institute for Women’s Leadership. Full-time students who receive departmental funding are expected to maintain good academic standing.

Stony Brook University Fully Funded PhD in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Stony Brook University, based in Stony Brook, NY offers a fully funded PhD in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies. This program is particularly strong in transnational social movements and globalization; the politics of representation and media analysis; gender and health; and the critical analysis of sexuality. Students accepted into the PhD program are often offered a four-year Teaching Assistantship which consists of a base stipend, Graduate Tuition Scholarship, and insurance coverage for the four years.

University of Arizona Fully Funded PhD in Gender and Women’s Studies

The University of Arizona, based in Tucson, AZ offers a fully funded PhD in Gender and Women’s Studies. Graduates will produce original knowledge in the field from a foundation in diverse theories of gender, critical race theory, feminism and other social movements, history, literature, critical and cultural studies, and the relation of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and transnational economic and political processes. Most students are primarily funded through their years in coursework as Teaching and Research Assistants. The department is able to provide some fellowship funding from the Graduate College and the Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy Endowment. Travel stipends to professional meetings are available for graduate students.

University of California Los Angeles Fully Funded PhD in Gender Studies

The University of California Los Angeles offers a fully funded PhD in Gender Studies. The UCLA Gender Studies PhD program is designed for students preparing to work in the intellectually rigorous atmosphere of post-secondary teaching and research. UCLA’s Department of Gender Studies has consistently been able to provide a minimum floor of funding for tuition and living expenses for all of its incoming graduate students for four years. This bare minimum guarantee to all incoming graduate students ensures that no one in the Department is “paying to play” while others are fully supported. PhD fellowships provide approximately $18,000-$21,000 annually in support and fee remission.

University of Kentucky Fully Funded PhD in Gender and Women’s Studies

The University of Kentucky, based in Lexington, KY offers a fully funded PhD in Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS). The GWS PhD program is designed to train cutting-edge scholars in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies. Most GWS students are supported by teaching assistantships.  Teaching assistantships cover tuition and health insurance and provide a stipend for living expenses.  In some cases, students are offered research assistantships that provide the same coverage.  Students can apply for fellowships that cover tuition, health insurance, and living expenses while allowing students to focus on their own scholarships.

University of Michigan Fully Funded Joint PhD in Women’s and Gender Studies

The University of Michigan, based in Ann Arbor, MI offers a fully funded Joint PhD in Women’s and Gender Studies. This department has three joint interdisciplinary PhD options. The joint degree is unique in that it combines grounding in one of three disciplines, training in feminist theories and methodologies, and interdisciplinary coursework in Women’s and Gender Studies. The joint PhD programs are Women’s and Gender Studies with English, History, or Psychology. All joint PhD students are fully funded thanks to a combination of fellowships and teaching or research assistantships that last at least five years. All first-year students will receive a fellowship. Check the joint disciplines here .

University of Minnesota Fully Funded PhD in Feminist Studies

The University of Minnesota, based in Minneapolis, MN offers a fully funded PhD in Feminist Studies. The department admits three to four new students each year ensuring a strong and successful match between students’ academic interests and goals with the intellectual strengths of the faculty. All students admitted to the PhD program are promised five years of total funding through competitive fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships. This combination of funding includes full tuition, a 9-month stipend, and health insurance. Additionally, a lump sum of $10,500 for research and travel and fees is included.

Looking for more graduate funding awards? Sign up to access the free ProFellow funding database, which lists more than 2,600 professional and academic fellowships, including 1,000+ fully funded PhD and Master’s programs.

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Fully Funded PhD Programs , PhD in Gender Studies

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Ph.D. Program in Gender and Women’s Studies

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Our Program

The PhD degree in Gender and Women’s Studies provides advanced feminist training for students with a variety of academic backgrounds and career plans. The degree engages the multidisciplinary perspectives associated with gender studies, including queer studies, transgender studies, sexuality studies, race and ethnicity studies, postcolonial and settler-colonial studies, disability studies, area and global studies, cultural studies, and art, visual culture, and performance studies.

Faculty and students in our program, often working within other departments as well, develop scholarly expertise in areas such as: Gender and Health; LGBTQ2SIA+ Studies; Visual Culture, Art, and Performance Studies; Disability Studies; Gender and Sexuality in History; Gender and Politics; Psychology, Gender, and Sexuality; Transnational, Postcolonial, and Settler Colonial Studies; Care Work, Community Action, and Social Movements.

A unique feature of the Wisconsin PhD program in GWS is that all students complete a 15-credit concentration (mostly) outside GWS. The concentration may be in a traditional discipline (e.g., History or Political Science) or an interdisciplinary area (e.g., Gender and Health, or LGBTQ+ Studies). With the concentration, students will have expanded options on the academic and non-academic job markets, and they will learn research methods and content that will be useful for their dissertation and research beyond that. For more information, see the Concentration tab.

The Department benefits from numerous campus resources including a dedicated Office and Gender and Women’s Studies Librarian, the McBurney Disability Resource Center, the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, and other vital resources that may be found under the Campus Resources tab.

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From Land Acknowledgement to Action – a Bibliography from the Office of the Gender & Women’s Studies Librarian

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Feminist Studies Doctoral Program

The Graduate Program in Feminist Studies has a strong interdisciplinary orientation. Intersectional, Decolonial, Indigenous, Queer and Transnational feminisms foreground our studies of gender, sex, and sexuality in the US and elsewhere. Our core faculty specializes in research informed by Black Studies, Latina/o Studies, Asian American Studies, Latin America, East Asia and South Asia Studies and the disciplines including Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology. In addition to our core faculty, nearly 100 adjunct and affiliate faculty from departments across the university offer courses and expertise to our students.

See Faculty for additional information about our doctoral program faculty and their research interests.

Our History

The Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020. We started as a program in Women Studies in 1970 and became a department, with our own tenure lines in 1996. Our doctoral program, which began in 1998, awarded its first PhDs in 2006. Since then 29 students have successfully completed their PhDs in Feminist Studies. In 2011, we changed our name to Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies to better describe the scope and direction of the program.

Applying to the Program

Students applying to this program must have a strong academic background in Women, Feminist, Sexuality or Gender Studies.  Applicants may have a bachelors or masters degree in any interdiscipline or discipline but should have a record of academic coursework or activism that includes study of such subjects as feminist theory and/or empirical and/or theoretical analysis of race, class, sexuality, and gender.

Program Requirements

Students pursuing the Ph.D. must complete at least 60 credits of course work, which include 20 credits of core seminars: GWSS 501: History of Feminism; GWSS 502: Cross Disciplinary Feminist Theory; and GWSS 503: Feminist Research and Methods of Inquiry, taken sequentially; GWSS 504: Philosophies and Techniques of Teaching, and 40 credits of coursework in research methods and the student's areas of concentration.

Ph.D. students take a written and oral General Examination at the end of course work, usually in the third year of study. Within four weeks of the exam students are expected to submit a dissertation proposal and present it to their committee for discussion and approval. On successful completion of the exam and proposal defense, students are admitted to candidacy for the PhD. This marks the beginning of more intensive dissertation research.

Students must complete a minimum of 30 credits of dissertation research culminating in a publishable dissertation.

Preparing for Your Future

Our Ph.D. program is designed to prepare students for scholarly careers in feminist research and teaching interdisciplinary gender, women, and sexuality studies and/or related disciplines at the university/college level. Graduates of our Ph.D. program may also find employment with governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies (NGO's) and non-profit organizations working on social issues.

In recent years, our graduates have taken tenure-track positions at major universities, postdoctoral fellowships, research positions, directorships of Women’s Centers, and leadership positions in international organizations. 

Our Departmental Expertise

The UW department of Gender, Women and Sexuality  is reputed for scholarly expertise in women of color and transnational feminisms. We have growing foci in digital humanities, where we are well-known for innovative experimental exchanges with communities through music, dance, and visual cultures, and in queer studies, especially queer of color and transnational queer scholarship.

Funding Your Graduate Studies

Incoming students, domestic and international, are typically offered at least a fifteen-quarter funding package comprised of a combination of department-based research and teaching assistantships and University-wide fellowship funding secured through the department, subject to satisfactory performance (which is reviewed annually). Because of our desire to work intensively with each of our doctoral students and to fund our students through the majority of their graduate training, admission to the graduate program is highly competitive. We typically admit about two to four new students each year. Students with disabilities, as confirmed by Disabilities Resource Services, may qualify for additional funding.

Feminist Studies Doctoral Program Pamphlet (PDF)

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PhD in Feminist Studies

The highly selective PhD program is composed of faculty and graduate students producing thoughtful and innovative scholarship. We admit three-to-four new students each year ensuring a strong and successful match between students’ academic interests and goals with the intellectual strengths of our faculty.

Admission Criteria

Our program is a stand-alone PhD program; we admit only students pursuing their doctoral degrees. Applicants who have an MA and have completed graduate coursework at other institutions may be able to transfer some credits in consultation with their faculty advisor and the director of graduate studies.

Students submitting an application must have:

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited US college or comparable foreign institution
• An undergraduate major, minor or substantial coursework in women’s, feminist, GLBTQ, or gender studies
• The Feminist Studies PhD application does not require GRE scores. You may include GRE scores in your application materials, but they are not a deciding factor in admissions. The Graduate School requires that international students and students whose first language is not English provide proof of English language proficiency via TOEFL, MELAB, or IELTS, regardless of US Citizenship status. For more information, please view the  Graduate School’s English language requirements . However, English language test scores are not a deciding factor in admissions.

Applications will be due December 2nd, 2024 . Visit the How to Apply page for more details.

Program Requirements

Our program requires 20-22 credits within the major, 12 credits outside of the major, and 24 thesis credits. Course requirements:

• GWSS 8108: Genealogies of Feminist Theory
• GWSS 8109: Feminist Knowledge Production
• GWSS 8107: Feminist Pedagogies
• GWSS 8996: Feminist Studies Colloquium (taken over 4 semesters)
• GWSS 8997: Dissertation Seminar
• GWSS Graduate Seminars (6 credits)
• Research Methods & Tools Courses (6 credits)
• GWSS 8888: Doctoral Thesis Credits (24 credits)
• Outside Coursework (12 credits)

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• Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

The Program in Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) offers a combined PhD in conjunction with five departments and programs: African American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, English, and Sociology. Students pursuing the combined PhD in WGSS will determine their research and doctoral foci in coordination with the directors of graduate studies in WGSS and the partnering department or program.

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Dara Strolovitch

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Maureen Gardner

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Admission Requirements

Standardized testing requirements.

GRE is optional. 

English Language Requirement

TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic is required of most applicants whose native language is not English.

You may be exempt from this requirement if you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, and if you have studied in residence at that institution for at least three years.

Combined Degree Program Application Deadline

*The deadline to submit an application to a combined program is always the earlier deadline of the two individual programs, or December 15, whichever comes first.

Academic Information

Combined phd information.

Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies offers a combined PhD in conjunction with several other departments and programs including: African American Studies , American Studies , Anthropology , English Languages and Literature , and Sociology .

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PhD students at Yale are normally fully-funded. During their programs, our students receive a twelve-month stipend to cover living expenses and a fellowship that covers the full cost of tuition and student healthcare.

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UCLA Graduate Programs

Graduate Program: Gender Studies

UCLA's Graduate Program in Gender Studies offers the following degree(s):

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Masters available on Doctoral track

With questions not answered here or on the program’s site (above), please contact the program directly.

Gender Studies Graduate Program at UCLA 1120 Rolfe Hall Box 951504 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1504

Visit the Gender Studies’s faculty roster

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Visit the registrar's site for the Gender Studies’s course descriptions

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(310) 206-8101

[email protected] [email protected]

MAJOR CODE: GENDER STUDIES

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Ph.D. Program

The Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Program at The Ohio State University offers a Doctor of Philosophy degree that prepares students for careers in research, teaching, government agencies, political and educational organizations, and foundations.

The Department is committed to remaining a national leader in the development of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies as an academic field. Ph.D. students are expected to demonstrate a strong theoretical background in women's, gender and sexuality studies, pass a candidacy examination covering a primary and secondary specialization, and successfully prepare and defend a dissertation.

Central to this mission is an emphasis on interdisciplinary research and scholarship. The program is organized not around disciplines but around feminist lines of inquiry that cut across disciplines and traditional categories of knowledge. Students choose one major and at least one minor area of concentration from four fields of specialization:

• Global and Transnational Feminisms
• Race, Sexualities, and Social Justice
• Narrative, Culture, and Representation
• Power, Institutions, and Economies

Ph.D. Degree Requirements  

For More Information

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• Email  [email protected]  or call 614-292-1021

Gender Studies, PhD

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feminist, womens

The Gender Studies doctoral program accepts applications for incoming cohorts in odd years only. The next admit term is Fall 2025 (applications due in December 2024). Please contact [email protected] with questions.

Receive transdisciplinary training in feminist theories and methodologies, and learn to conduct original, cutting-edge research while you contribute to the field of women, gender and sexuality studies.

The PhD program in gender studies is housed in the nation's first School of Social Transformation. The inclusive gender studies doctoral program empowers tomorrow's scholars and community leaders by immersing students in:

• creative and critical knowledge production
• deep fluency in feminist theory, methodology and praxis
• publicly engaged academic research

Courses in the gender studies program examine key topics related to gender. These include gendered dimensions of social structures, institutions and organizations; the ways in which policies and laws affect gender relations; the intersections of race, gender, sexualities and citizenship in a transnational world; historical and contemporary representations of gender across genres (e.g., popular culture; social media; scientific, medical, historical and legal discourse); and processes of social change, social movements and community development.

Students can choose to specialize in a wide variety of topic areas:

• activism and social movements
• BIPOC feminisms
• critical globalization and development studies
• critical refugee studies
• feminist social reproduction theory
• immigration and migration
• popular culture studies
• queer of color critique
• reproductive justice
• transnational feminisms
• College/school: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Location: Tempe
• STEM-OPT extension eligible: No

84 credit hours, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation

Required Core (12 credit hours) WST 601 Critical Concepts of Gender (3) WST 602 Mapping the Intersections of Gender (3) WST 603 Engendering Methodology (3) WST 701 Research Design and Proposal Development in Gender Studies (3)

Elective Coursework in Methodology (6 credit hours)

Elective Coursework in Specialization (12 credit hours)

General Electives (30 credit hours)

Research (12 credit hours)

Dissertation (12 credit hours) WST 799 Dissertation (12)

Additional Curriculum Information When approved by the student's supervisory committee and the Graduate College, this program allows 30 credit hours from a previously awarded master's degree to be used for this degree. If students do not have a previously awarded master's degree, they select 30 hours of elective coursework with academic unit approval to reach the required 84 credit hours.

Students should see the academic unit for a complete list of approved electives.

Students must maintain an average GPA of 3.50 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in their courses.

The gender studies doctoral program is designed to provide students with the transdisciplinary training in theory and methods needed to conduct original research and scholarship about gender. Thus, students also take two research methods courses relevant to their dissertation, chosen in consultation with their faculty advisor.

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The gender studies program welcomes applications from qualified students without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex or national origin. Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in any field from a regionally accredited institution.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

• graduate admission application and application fee
• official copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts
• resume or curriculum vitae
• statement of purpose
• three letters of reference, preferably from faculty or other researchers
• writing sample (10 to 15 pages)
• proof of English language proficiency

Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.

Students should see the ASU Admission Services website for mailing addresses and further admission information.

For additional financial information, students should consult the tuition and aid website.

Program learning outcomes identify what a student will learn or be able to do upon completion of their program. This program has the following program outcomes:

• Integrate and apply the core theories of gender in the field of Women and Gender Studies.
• Examine and apply intersectionality as a foundational framework in the field of Women and Gender Studies.
• Evaluate and apply core methodologies in the field of Women and Gender Studies.

Graduates of the program have gone on to careers at universities, research and policy institutes, government organizations and nonprofit organizations.

School of Social Transformation | NVS1 310AA [email protected] 480-965-7682

Ph.D. Program

The Doctoral Program in Women and Gender Studies (DWGS) offers a particular focus on feminist colonial, post-colonial, diasporic and transnational studies . The program supports diverse and multidisciplinary graduate research querying gendered, raced, sexed, and queered subjects as they are entangled in political economies and cultural formations.  In particular, WGSI has distinctive strengths in the following four areas of strength: (1) gender, sexuality and queer studies; (2) feminist cultural studies; (3) feminist studies of technology, science, environment and biomedicine; and (4) transnational political economy and critical development studies. Our core faculty brings transnational feminist commitments to the study of diverse sites and their interconnection with particular focus on Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia, and the United States.

All admitted doctoral students will receive a minimum guaranteed finding package. Please see our financial support page for further information.  For detailed information on School of Graduate Studies funding commitments including values, number of years of funding and payment details, see the How Funding Works: Research-Stream Programs page.

Incoming and current doctoral students are encouraged to check out collaborative specializations to enhance their degree. WGSI participates in a dozen programs that provide interdisciplinary study and training.  Read more about collaborative programs here.

Gender Studies Research and Study Opportunities

Scholarships and fellowships in gender studies.

• Programs for Women in Science and Technology
• Wittig Postdoctoral Fellowship in Feminsit Biology, Center for Research on Gender & Women
• University at Buffalo, Gender Institute fellowship
• The Clayman Institute for Gender Research fellowship
• Indiana University of Bloomington fellowships
• Women and Gender Summer Fellowship Program
• Masters Degree in Women’s and Gender Studies Scholarship
• Gemma: Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree in Women’s and Gender Studies
• AAUW International Fellowship
• Graduate Women International Fellowship
• Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Award, International Studies Association

Grants & Awards

• WGSS Award for Significant Achievement in Women and Gender Studies Librarianship
• Gender Studies Awards, University of Victoria
• National Women’s Studies Association awards and prizes
• Morgentaler Award
• Women’s and Gender Studies Awards, GENESEO
• Gender Studies Program Grants
• The Susan B. Institute Grants

Upgrade your academic degree

• Sexuality and Gender Studies PhD/MA by Research, University of Birmingham
• Gender Studies (Research), Utrecht University
• Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies, Amherst College
• Gender Studies, Mount Holyoke College
• Study of Women and Gender, Smith College
• Women’s and Gender Studies, Carleton
• PhD funding, University of Michigan
• Reproductive Rights Activist Service Corps Summer Internship Program

Expand your network

• Women’s & Gender Studies Research Network
• Five College Women’s Studies Research Center
• Financial Women’s Association
• Zonta International
• The International Research Association of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies
• Asian Association of Women Studies
• European Association for Gender Research, Education and Documentation
• Rural Women’s Studies Association
• International Federation for Research in Women’s History

Follow relevant twitter accounts on Gender Studies

• @Gender_Journal 
• @CambridgeGender
• @gender_ucd
• @LSEGenderTweet
• @svr_gender
• @Gender_Kings

What Students will be Taught if Accepted to a Gender Studies Program?

Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary academic program, exploring gender roles in the society. The program views gender in diverse context of cultural, historic, political, economic and social factors. While exploring how feminine and masculine roles differ in cultures throughout the world, the program also puts a lot of emphasis on the historic aspect of how these roles have transformed and what is their characteristics today. Many modern undergraduate and graduate programs on gender studies explore this concept along with cultural, sociology, anthropology or other subjects.

Gender equality – the equality between men and women, is a universal right, that many of the modern states have acknowledged by ratifying international conventions on human rights. The right to equality has also been enforced by national legislations, but does it work? Or what is the real perception of gender roles and what are the cultural and political challenges on the way to gender equality and awareness?  These are the main questions, that students of academic programs on gender issues ask themselves.

Gender mainstreaming comprises a major part of interdisciplinary program on gender studies. This area specifically focuses on the measures of making gender equality a central idea in all spheres of life: political agenda, non-profit work and development programs. Gender mainstreaming has become a major direction in government planning, developing public policy and responsible budgeting, which basically means gender equal distribution of budget.

A graduate degree in gender studies can lead to a successful career in diverse fields: it can be the commencement of an international career in gender related development programs or gender consultancy to non-profits, international organizations and state bodies.

Scholarships for pursuing a graduate degree in gender studies are diverse and, interestingly enough, these are offered not only by colleges and Universities, but also various international organizations and charities.

ARMACAD is your online guide in Gender Studies

ARMACAD offers a directory of fully funded undergraduate and graduate programs in gender studies, as well as workshops, forums, lectures and trainings. PhD and postdoctoral research opportunities on gender studies are also well presented on the portal. Explore our website with all possible search keywords and it will lead you to the right decision.

Ph.D. Program

The department enjoys a global reputation for new methodologies and exciting new research. Our students and alumni are building new fields of study and reimagining the future of feminist thought, within and beyond academia.

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• Department  Faculty  and Staff
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Students in the program explore feminist and queer theories, methodologies and genealogies through coursework within the department and then draw upon resources across UMD and the D.C. area to build an individualized course of study as they ready themselves for dissertation research.

Application for admission to the PhD program for 2025 are now open until November 15, 2024. Faculty within the department do  not directly accept individual applications by email. For more information on how to apply, please visit the PhD Admissions page.

With the guidance of faculty, students work through our series of benchmarks in order to gain a strong grounding in the field and then develop their specific trajectory, pursuing the classes, networks and training necessary for the projects they are building.

Our program and campus have particular strengths in the following areas:

• Black women’s studies, Black feminist thought, and intersectionality
• Race and racialization, critical ethnic and diasporic studies, and anti-caste studies
• Arts, media, cultural, and literary studies
• Feminist science and technology studies, digital studies, and digital humanities
• Sexual cultures, queer and trans studies, and queer of color critique
• Transnational feminisms and global gender justice
• Indigenous knowledge systems and Indigenous feminisms
• Disability studies and health justice

The doctoral program trains students in scholarly research, which our graduates have successfully applied within a wide range of professional arenas. Graduates of our program are working not only in women, gender, and sexuality academic studies but also in traditional disciplinary departments, non-teaching academic positions, nonprofits, publishing, museums and beyond.

Since the program began in 1999, the department has granted 36 Ph.Ds. These scholars have gone on to successful careers in a variety of fields. 70% work in higher education in a combination of tenure track, non-tenure track and community college positions, as well as post-doctoral and university administration positions. 11% work in nonprofits, 5% in secondary education and 5% in creative positions. Learn more about our current doctoral students and our Ph.D. alumni .

Overview of PhD Requirements

A students' primary advisor is the faculty member who works with them as they progress through their degree, from initial coursework through dissertation research and preparation for their career after graduation. Applicants do not enter the program with an assigned advisor. The Director of Graduate Studies advises all graduate students from admission until a permanent advisor is decided (generally in year 2). Students may ask a faculty member to be their advisor at any time, but they must select a permanent advisor by the spring of their second year.

Most students have one advisor, though a co-advising relationship with two faculty members is also possible. Students must have one advisor within the department until they receive ABD status, at which point they are no longer required to have an advisor within the WGSS core faculty.  Advisor(s) must be a full member of the UMD Graduate Faculty .

Required Coursework

• 12 credits of core courses (WGSS 601, 602, 618, 708) which must be taken in sequence
• 12 credits (4 courses) taken with WGSS core faculty (WGSS698 or others which may be cross-listed)
• 6 credits (2 courses) taken with faculty outside of the department 9 credits from electives (chosen in consultation with advisor)
• 6 credits of WGSS628: Colloquium in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (a 1 credit course, 2 credits taken in year 1)
• 19 credits (minimum) of research credits taken once required classes have been completed

Research Credits

UMD requires that students be continually registered for classes while pursuing doctoral study. Prior to advancement to candidacy and after completion of required coursework, students should be registered for WGSS 709: Major Fields Research or WGSS 898: Pre-candidacy Research. After advancement to candidacy, the registrar’s office will register students in good standing for 6 credits of WGSS 899 Dissertation Research each Fall and Spring until program completion.

Course Descriptions

Core courses.

WGSS 601: Theoretical Foundations in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies First semester ;  3 credits

A foundational theory seminar which examines fundamental concepts in the interdisciplinary field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The course engages intersectionality as a critical analytic and set of responses to structural power and domination. It provides students with a theoretical foundation for understanding gender, race, and sexuality as analytic categories operating in transnational and global contexts and intersecting with other categories of difference. 

WGSS 602: Methodologies and Epistemologies in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Second semester; 3 credits

This seminar examines the politics and practice of knowledge production in the interdisciplinary field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, setting the foundation for students’ emergence as producers of knowledge. It explores how theory is connected to the formation of raced/gendered/sexed bodies, subjectivities, and existences that unsettle Eurocentric genealogies of disciplinary knowledge formation. The course introduces students to methodological and epistemological frameworks for attending to the impact of relations of power and domination on how research and scholarship are created and defined within and across disciplinary boundaries, cultures, and paradigms.

WGSS 618: Feminist Pedagogy Required in first semester of teaching (usually third semester); 3 credits

Whether or not you enter the program with prior teaching experience, this seminar is required the first time a student has a teaching assistantship. Students work in direct collaboration with their faculty instructor, who is also the instructor for the undergraduate lecture in which students are serving as TA. WGSS 618 explores principles and frameworks of feminist pedagogy and discusses how they can be implemented into teaching practice. As a graduate teaching assistant in WGSS 618 you may be asked, among other things, to clarify and supplement the materials discussed in the large lecture session, take responsibility for sessions within the large lecture, monitor class attendance and participation, proctor exams, and grade papers. Your time commitments will therefore vary from week to week as you prepare for your individual sections and course expectations.

Following the first semester of teaching, students will take the 1 credit course WGSS619: Teaching Practicum in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

WGSS 708: Research Seminar in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Fourth Semester, 3 credits

This course strengthens students' understanding of research as a process, providing an opportunity to work on an independent project within the structure of a graduate seminar. Using the accountability and collaboration of a seminar and the one-on-one support of a faculty mentor, students will build their research knowledge and apply these research skills as they develop their individual projects. Students will construct a research proposal, engage in substantial research and reading, and produce an original research essay or creative project.

WGSS 628: Colloquium in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies  1 credit, required by all students for a minimum of 6 credits total

Two of these credits must be taken in the first year. You may complete your 628 credits after reaching ABD status if necessary. If you register for WGSS 628 but do not complete the requirements, the semester will not count toward your 6 required credits in the class.

Typically taught by the Department Chair or Director of Graduate Studies, this course meets monthly and may include visits from guest speakers, professionalization workshops, guidance on funding applications, and research presentations from advanced students. Attendance is required for the six semesters during which you are enrolled in the class and encouraged for all students in the program. While registered for the Colloquium class, students must attend every session and complete whatever work the instructor requires.

Program Benchmarks

In addition to their required coursework, all students must complete five benchmarks to receive the PhD. 

• Portfolio Review (year 2)
• Second Language Requirement (may be completed any time prior to advancement)
• Major Fields (students advance to candidacy once this is completed)
• Dissertation Prospectus (due within 6 months of advancement)

Dissertation

Portfolio Review 

The goal of this benchmark is to ensure students engage with the broad range of WGSS scholarship and provide them with early feedback on their progress in the program. Completion of Portfolio Review, along with all required coursework, enables students to apply for a Master’s degree (non-thesis option) if they so wish. WGSS does not accept students directly to the MA, so this is the only way to obtain a Master’s in WGSS from UMD.

Second Language Requirement

Before advancing to candidacy, students must demonstrate intermediate competence in a language other than English through prior knowledge, coursework, or a formal test. The purpose of the language requirement in WGSS is three-fold: 1) to have communication skills in the language of a particular community, especially but not exclusively if one’s research is located in a community that is non-English speaking; 2) to be able to read and appreciate the work of scholars, artists, and activists working in languages other than English; and 3) to pursue the ability to become conversant in another language, which allows scholars to make broader intellectual engagement with people and materials.

Major Fields

The Major Fields benchmark marks your movement from student, following a path set out for you by others, into independent research, where you map out and pursue the unique trajectory you will follow in your career as a scholar. This benchmark requires you to delve deeply into interdisciplinary perspectives in your field of specialization and build competency in the methodologies and approaches you will employ in your dissertation. It provides you with the opportunity to build your scholarly networks and craft your professional identity as a scholar. This benchmark is equivalent to the “comprehensive exams” taken by students in disciplinary fields, and the areas of knowledge you develop at this time will be those you anticipate as your future areas of teaching and research expertise.

Prospectus 

The prospectus is prepared under the supervision of the dissertation chair and in consultation with your dissertation committee, which you will assemble at this stage. Before you proceed to writing the dissertation itself, you must defend your dissertation prospectus in a formal meeting with your committee. The prospectus defense is necessary to ensure that you have an opportunity to discuss your research plans in depth, and to make sure that they are of an appropriate scope and workability for a dissertation project, before you embark on research and writing in earnest.

The culmination of your doctoral work is your dissertation, which makes an original, significant contribution to the interdisciplinary field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The department expects that the format or structure of each dissertation will be determined in consultation between the student, the dissertation director, and the dissertation committee. However, it may be useful to know that dissertations depend on extensive primary or original research; are typically 200 or more pages in length; and are expected to situate their interventions within a deep citational context. WGSS welcomes dissertations that incorporate a creative or technical element, but we expect such elements to be presented within a scholarly infrastructure that clarifies their relationship to WGSS as an academic field.

General Program Timeline

This timeline shows how a student moving through the program would typically complete requirements. Individual pathways through the program may vary for any number of reasons. 

Learn more about our alumni, who work in fields ranging from academia to the nonprofit world.

Interventions

Since 2013, the Women's Studies Graduate Association at the University of Maryland has hosted "Interventions," a biennial graduate symposium featuring innovative, interdiciplinary research in the field.

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Ph.D. Major

Our graduate degree program.

The requirements for the doctoral degree in Gender Studies are 90 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, configured as at least 48 credit hours of graded course work and an additional 42 dissertation credit or coursework credit hours.

You will complete three required core courses involving theory, methodology, research skills, and professional development: G600 Concepts of Gender, G603 Feminist Theories, G702 Researching Gender Issues.

Our students also complete a 12-credit-hour minor, which should be taken externally (e.g. in another department) or in an approved program listed in the Graduate Bulletin . Elective courses complete the required hours of gender-related course work.

Only those students intending to pursue the Ph.D. will be admitted to the program. However, a Master's degree may be obtained upon satisfactory completion of its requirements, which are: at least 30 credits of course work successfully earned, including 12 credits of courses outside Gender Studies and 9 credits of core Gender Studies courses and either a comprehensive M.A. exam or a substantive research paper (M.A. thesis) of roughly 50 pages.

For official degree requirements, you should consult the Graduate Bulletin .

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Prospective Students

The UCLA Gender Studies Ph.D. Program is designed for students preparing to work in the intellectually rigorous atmosphere of post-secondary teaching and research.  Admission to the Ph.D. Program is highly competitive; we typically admit three to five students per year.  In addition to the doctoral program, we offer a Graduate Concentration in Gender Studies for UCLA graduate students pursuing degrees in other departments.

Our courses are taught by Gender Studies faculty, including core faculty and  those who hold joint appointments in a wide variety of UCLA departments and professional schools.

For Fall 2024 admission, the deadline for application to the Ph.D. Program is December 12, 2023.  Applications should be submitted through the UCLA Graduate Division ( www.grad.ucla.edu ). Admitted students are expected to enroll the following fall.  Before submitting the various parts of the application to Gender Studies and the Graduate Division of UCLA, please read all forms and instructions carefully.

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Prior to submitting your application, we also recommend consulting the program description, course listings, and the information provided on the UCLA Graduate Division homepage www.grad.ucla.edu

Eligibility

All individuals with a BA degree or equivalent are eligible for admission to the Gender Studies Graduate Program. To apply for the Concentration, you must be a graduate student enrolled in another UCLA department, program or professional school.  Admission to the Ph.D. Program is based upon intellectual ability, past performance and, most important, the fit between the Gender Studies graduate program and the candidate’s personal and professional goals. Please identify any UCLA faculty members you are interested in working with in your Gender Studies supplementary essay.  All applications to the Ph.D. Program are reviewed by the Gender Studies Department admissions committee.  The committee considers the following factors: letters of recommendation from the applicant’s former or current professors and/or supervisors or colleagues; undergraduate/MA grade point average. High importance are the Statement of Purpose, Gender Studies supplementary essay and writing sample.

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Ph.D. Program

The Ph.D. program in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Arizona admits students every two years . We are not accepting applications in Fall 2024 . We will accept applications in Fall 2025 for admission for Fall 2026.

The Ph.D. program trains scholars and researchers in this dynamic, interdisciplinary field. Graduates produce original knowledge in the field from a foundation in diverse theories of gender, critical race theory, feminism and other social movements, history, literature, critical and cultural studies, and the relation of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and transnational economic and political processes.

Through coursework and preparation for individually designed comprehensive exams, students gain understanding and skills in diverse approaches to feminist scholarship that enable them to design and complete their own innovative dissertation project.

The department has particular expertise in Chicana/Latina studies, LGBTQ/Sexuality Studies, transnationalism, and representation and culture and maintains methodologically diverse approaches to scholarship.

Through its affiliation with the Southwest Institute for Research on Women the department also contributes to applied community-based research on women's and adolescent health, substance abuse treatment, women and incarceration, and projects related to border issues.

Contact Information

Admissions Questions

Darcy Roman-Felix Academic Program Coordinator [email protected] (520) 621-5657

Other Inquiries

Dr. Eithne Luibheid [email protected] 520-626-2746

How to Apply

Students applying to The University of Arizona's Ph.D. in Gender and Women's Studies degree program must submit the online Graduate Admissions Application .

Applicants  do not need agreement in advance  from a faculty member who will serve as their Ph.D. supervisor. Instead, applicants’ statement of purpose should clearly explain which Gender and Women’s Studies core faculty member(s) they hope to work with, and how their planned program of study connects with that faculty's expertise. 

Application Deadline

Gender & Women’s Studies accepts Ph.D. students every two years. In Fall 2023, we will begin accepting applications for students to be admitted for Fall 2024. This program does not accept spring admissions.

Application deadline for Fall 2024 admission: January 5, 2024.

Application Requirements

Students applying to The University of Arizona's Ph.D. in Gender and Women's Studies degree program should hold a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent by the date of entry into the program. An undergraduate major or minor in Women's Studies or a strong background in feminist theory within the undergraduate major is strongly recommended. To be competitive for admissions, applicants must achieve a GPA of at least 3.0.

Letters of Recommendation (3)

The Department requires each applicant to have a minimum of 3 letters of recommendation submitted on their behalf.  The letters of recommendation should be written by faculty that can speak about your academic and research ability.

Statement of Purpose

Please provide a statement of up to 1000 words outlining your purpose in undertaking graduate study in Gender & Women’s Studies, and at the UA in particular, including your academic objectives, research interests, and career plans. Include information that documents your preparation for advanced study in this field, such as research projects, internships, or other relevant experiences. If there are particular faculty member with whom you wish to study, please give their names and explain why you want to study with them.  Please include your last name and page number in the header section of each page .

Personal Statement

Please write a statement of no more than 500 words that identifies the distinctive qualities, characteristics, and life experiences that contribute to your decision to pursue graduate education in Gender & Women’s Studies. You may wish to include examples that illustrate your motivation to succeed by setting high standards for accomplishing intellectual and other goals, overcoming obstacles to achievement, and/or your commitment to social transformation.   Please include your last name and page number in the header section of each page .

Writing Sample

This may be a term paper, a published article or essay, or a substantive research report. Your sample should demonstrate your ability to write clearly, develop a reasoned argument, and engage in innovative thinking. Please limit your writing sample to 25 pages.   Please include your last name and page number in the header section of each page .

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Upload your CV.   Please include your last name and page number in the header section of each page .

Your CV should include:

• Education (degrees you have received or anticipate);
• Academic employment (such as teaching or research positions), whether paid or unpaid;
• Non-academic employment (including internships);
• Honors, prizes, awards, scholarships, and memberships in honor societies and professional organizations.
• Published articles, papers presented at professional meetings, screenings or other public presentations of your creative work;
• Any other activities or accomplishments that you feel are relevant to this application (e.g. extra-curricular activities during college or graduate school or substantial engagement with a non-profit or activist organizations not already listed under employment).

All transcripts uploaded into your application are considered unofficial.  If recommended for admission, then sealed, official paper transcripts or official electronic versions sent from your university or clearing house are acceptable.  Degree certificates, diplomas, and transcripts for international documents will require official English translations.

If you are recommended for admission to our program and you accept, the Graduate College Admissions Office will then and only then require you to submit official transcripts. If you fail to submit those official transcripts or if the official transcripts reveal negative information not previously disclosed to us, we reserve the right to revoke the recommendation for admission and any funding that may have been offered.

Official GRE Scores (Recommended)

The GWS department does not require applicants to submit GRE scores in order to be considered for admission. However, we recommend that you complete the GRE (even though it will not be a factor in our consideration of your application) since it required for certain fellowships and grants for which you may be eligible. 

The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is  4832.

English Proficiency

English Proficiency is one of the conditions for admission for all applicants whose native language is not English. Acceptable English Proficiency credentials: 

• Test of English as a Foreign Language  (TOEFL) - minimum score of 79 iBT (or 60 on the revised PBT with no section score lower than 15).  Individual MyBest scores must also be dated within 2 years of the enrollment term to be considered valid.
• International English Language Testing System  (IELTS) - minimum composite score of 7, with no subject area below a 6
• Pearson PTE Academic  - minimum score of 60
• Graduate  English Language Endorsement  from the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL)
• CEPT Full Academic test  - offered by our Center for English as a Second Language (CESL), minimum Total score of 110.

  Please visit the Graduate College website for more information regarding  English Proficiency .

Program Requirements

Course work for the PhD includes a total minimum of 66 units:

Core Courses

Effective Fall 2023, complete 9 units:

Major Courses

Students must complete 27 additional major units. 

These may be classes in and outside of the department. They should be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor. Students may fulfill up to 10 units by enrolling in the Certificate in College Teaching. For more information see:  http://cct.oia.arizona.edu/ .

Critical Race/Ethnic Studies Course Requirement: Our faculty are committed to critical race and ethnic studies for feminist training and research. Doctoral students must complete one 3-unit course in critical race or ethnic studies, as part of the major or minor. GWS 539A, 639, and 684 may not be used to fulfill this requirement. Consult with your adviser or the DGS to select a course that meets this requirement.

Minor Requirements

At least one supporting minor of nine or more units is required for the PhD. If a doctoral student chooses two supporting minor subjects, each minor must have at least six units of coursework. Although the minor subjects are usually taken outside the major department, minors within the major department may be permitted with the approval of the student's major professor and must be included in your plan of study.

Dissertation Requirements

Students complete 18 units of dissertation units.

The dissertation is a substantial piece of original research in Gender and Women’s Studies. Great care should be taken with your dissertation.  For those students who go on to become professors, the dissertation will be a key component in job interviews. Hiring committees will want to see that the dissertation topic, research, and writing indicate that the dissertation can be revised into a publishable book in a timely fashion.

Other Program Requirements

Transfer coursework.

Graduate credit earned at approved institutions, if accepted by the Gender and Women’s Studies Department and the Graduate College, may be counted toward the requirements.  Click here to view complete details . 

For students  with  an MA in gender and women’s studies or a related field, a total of  fifteen  units may be fulfilled through approved transferred credit.

For students without an MA in gender and women’s studies or a related field, a total of  twelve  units may be fulfilled through approved transferred credit.

Qualifying Process (QP)

All students entering the Ph.D. program are required to complete a Qualifying Process.

Comprehensive Examination for Doctoral Candidacy

This Examination is intended to test the student’s comprehensive knowledge of the major and minor subjects of study, both in breadth across the general field of study, and in depth within the area of specialization.  There are two portions to the Comprehensive Examination:  the written exam and the oral exam.  They must be taken sequentially.  Students should normally take the Comprehensive Exams upon or near completion of their coursework.

Dissertation Proposal and Defense

The proposal must describe original, substantive research in Gender and Women’s Studies.  It should explain how the dissertation will contribute new knowledge to the field(s) and it should display fluency with existing scholarship related to the topic.  All members of the Dissertation Committee must approve the Dissertation Proposal at a Proposal Defense.

Dissertation

The dissertation is a substantial piece of original research in Gender and Women’s Studies.  Great care should be taken with your dissertation.  For those students who go on to become professors, the dissertation will be a key component in job interviews.  Hiring committees will want to see that the dissertation topic, research, and writing indicate that the dissertation can be revised into a publishable book in a timely fashion.

Language Competencies

The Gender & Women’s Studies Ph.D. does not require the demonstration of second-language competency, but pursuing fluency in languages other than English is strongly encouraged as part of our commitment to U.S. ethnic studies, and international and transnational scholarship, teaching, and activism.

Students undertaking dissertation research in a language other than English and in which they are not native speakers will be expected to demonstrate proficiency to their Dissertation Committee.  Proficiency is achieved when the student acquires the expertise to read widely in secondary literature and undertake original research in another language.  Students who expect that they will undertake dissertation research in a non-native language should discuss this with their Major Advisor early in their doctoral program and work with their Advisor to develop a plan to achieve language proficiency.  These students will be expected to demonstrate language proficiency as part of their Dissertation Prospectus defense.

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Fully Funded PhD in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Emory University

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Emory University, situated in Atlanta, Georgia, currently provides a fully funded Ph.D. program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with a comprehensive focus on various facets of identity, such as race, ethnicity, religion, class, disability, nationality, and sexuality.

PhD Program Requirements

Prospective candidates seeking admission to the Ph.D. program at Emory University in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies must meet specific eligibility criteria. Applicants are expected to demonstrate a strong academic background and a genuine interest in contributing to the interdisciplinary research areas encompassed by the program.

PhD Funding Coverage

Emory University is committed to providing substantial financial support to all admitted students in the Ph.D. program. Successful candidates are awarded a five-year fellowship that encompasses various benefits. The standard tuition scholarship fully covers tuition costs and enrollment fees. Additionally, students receive a competitive annual stipend paid over twelve months, ensuring financial stability throughout the program. Furthermore, subsidized health insurance is provided to support the well-being of students during their academic journey.

Exceptional students may be eligible for additional fellowships, further enhancing their financial support over the entire five-year duration of the program. These supplementary fellowships contribute to an increased stipend, acknowledging and rewarding outstanding academic achievements.

Application Requirement

The admission application package should be carefully prepared to showcase the applicant’s academic prowess, research interests, and potential contributions to the field. This typically includes academic transcripts, letters of recommendation from individuals familiar with the applicant’s academic or professional work, a well-crafted statement of purpose outlining research interests and career goals.

Application Deadline

December 01, 2025

Application Fee

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Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Women’s, gender, and sexuality studies (wgss) graduate student research funding application.

The WGSS Program is happy to announce a new funding resource for graduate students in the WGSS Certificate or Combined PhD program.  Up to seven WGSS graduate students per academic year will receive up to $700 each towards travel to an academic conference related to their work in the Certificate or Combined PhD program.  WGSS understands that those who do interdisciplinary scholarship often need to attend multiple conferences a year, and we are grateful to be able to support the professional development of our Certificate and PhD students.  Applications will be accepted twice per academic year, in February and October, with priority given to those who are presenting papers and who lack other sources of funding.  Note that the award does not cover food expenses.

These funds cannot provide reimbursement for expenses already incurred.

The Fall 2024 deadline is Wednesday, October 9, 2024 by 11:59 PM. The Spring 2025 deadline is Wednesday, February 5, 2025 by 11:59 PM.

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The Department of Women's and Gender Studies does not require the Graduate Record Exams (GRE).

Minimum requirements for admission .

• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science or equivalent from an accredited institution
• A distinguished undergraduate record.
• For Women’s and Gender Studies and History applicants, evidence that the applicant can satisfy the foreign language requirement in the first two years of the doctoral program. Knowledge of one language other than English is required of students in United States history; for all other students, the requirement is two languages in addition to English.
• For Women’s and Gender Studies and English applicants, evidence that the applicant can satisfy the foreign language requirement in the first two years of the doctoral program. The requirement is one language other than English at an advanced level, or two languages other than English at a basic level. Both must be satisfied by coursework or departmental examination. Basic reading ability is equivalent to successfully completing two years of college-level instruction; an advanced level includes literary competence and is equivalent to three years of college-level instruction.
• Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate English proficiency.

Women’s and Gender Studies reviewers look for the following when making their decisions: some Women’s and Gender Studies background and experience in interdisciplinary studies; outstanding grades; strong letters of recommendation; and a fit with the program in terms of a possible mentor(s). For information on our joint departments, please review the appropriate graduate website for English , History , or Psychology .

Applications are submitted to the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, but successful applicants are approved by both Women’s and Gender Studies and the other unit. In the past, we have typically admitted 2–3 students per year in each of the joint PhD programs.

Application Procedures

Applications to the Women’s and Gender Studies PhD Programs are accepted for Fall term admission only. Applicants will be notified of the department's admission decision no later than April 15. All applications and supporting credentials become the property of the University of Michigan.

Women’s and Gender Studies Joint PhD Graduate Application Checklist

Step 1: Complete the Rackham Graduate School online application . Please be sure to select the appropriate program code:

• Women’s and Gender Studies & English Joint PhD: 02367
• Women’s and Gender Studies & History Joint PhD: 02369
• Women’s and Gender Studies & Psychology Joint PhD: 02371

Step 2: Submit the following to:

University of Michigan Graduate Admissions Rackham Graduate School

• One copy of official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended. For more information, visit Rackham .
• The online application (includes upload pages for an academic statement of purpose, a personal statement, a curriculum vitae, and a writing sample).
• An application fee ($75 for U.S. citizens or permanent residents; $90 for international applicants).
• If necessary, TOEFL scores for international students.

Please Note: Do not mail any additional materials to the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, as we will automatically receive your online application materials and have access to your official test scores and transcripts.

More information on the required pieces of the online application:

• The academic statement of purpose should outline your goals while attending graduate school.
• A personal statement should describe how your personal background and life experiences, including social, cultural, familial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan. This is not an academic statement of purpose, but a discussion of the personal journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree.
• A copy of your resume or CV.
• A copy of transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate school you have attended should also be uploaded with your application. Please note that uploaded copies of transcripts are considered unofficial, so you will still need to have official copies sent to the Rackham Graduate School if you are extended an admissions offer.
• Three letters of recommendation should be submitted electronically through the online application system. You can find the letter of recommendation form through the online application.
• We require the TOEFL for international students. The only exception to the TOEFL is for international students who have studied in the U.S. and/or who have received a degree from an English-speaking university.
• The writing sample should demonstrate the applicant's research interests and academic capabilities. Ideally, but not necessarily, this means a term paper; an excerpt from a thesis is also acceptable. The average submission is 10-20 pages; all writing samples should be no more than 25 pages.

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International Fellowships

Funding: $20,000–$50,000 Opens: September 3 Deadline: November 15

International Fellowships have been in existence since 1917. The program provides support for women pursuing full-time graduate or postdoctoral study in the United States to women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who intend to return to their home country to pursue a professional career. A limited number of awards are available for study outside of the U.S. (excluding the applicant’s home country) to women who are members of Graduate Women International (see the list of GWI affiliates ). Both graduate and postgraduate studies at accredited U.S. institutions are supported.

Applicants must have earned the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree by the application deadline and must have applied to their proposed institutions of study by the time of the application. Recipients are selected for academic achievement and demonstrated commitment to women and girls.  

Recipients return to their home countries to become leaders in business, government, academia, community activism, and the arts or scientific fields.  

Award Amount

Master’s/first professional degree: $20,000 Doctoral: $25,000 Postdoctoral: $50,000

September 3, 2024 Application opens.

November 15, 2024, by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Deadline for online submission of application, recommendations, and supporting documents.

April 15, 2025 Notification of decisions emailed to all applicants. AAUW is not able to honor requests for earlier notification.

July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026 Fellowship year

When a date falls on a weekend or holiday, the date will be observed on the following business day.

Eligibility

• International Fellowships are not open to previous recipients of any AAUW national fellowship or grant (not including branch or local awards or Community Action Grants).
• Members of the AAUW board of directors, committees, panels, task forces and staff, including current interns, are not eligible to apply for AAUW’s fellowships and grants. A person holding a current award is eligible for election or appointment to boards, committees, panels and task forces.
• International Fellowships are open to women, including people who identify as women, in all fields of study at an accredited institution of higher education or, for postdoctoral fellows, research. AAUW will make final decisions about what constitutes eligible institutions.
• Unsuccessful applicants may reapply.
• Have citizenship in a country other than the U.S. or possession of a nonimmigrant visa if residing in the U.S. Women who are currently, or expect to be during the fellowship year, a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or dual citizen with the U.S. and another country are not eligible.
• Hold an academic degree (earned in the U.S. or abroad) equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree completed by the application deadline .  
• Intend to devote themselves full-time to the proposed academic plan during the fellowship year.
• Intend to return to their home country to pursue a professional career upon completion of their studies.  
• Be proficient in English and confirm proficiency by submitting one of the Required Components (see below), which include certain English proficiency exams, transcripts from English-speaking institutions, or a written statement verifying English is the applicant’s native language. Applicants planning to take one of the accepted English proficiency exams should plan for and take the test as early as possible. Please direct questions about the tests to the test provider.
• Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral applicants must have applied by the AAUW application  deadline, to an accredited institution of study for the period of the fellowship year and must indicate the name of the institution in the International Fellowship application. While acceptance is not required at the time of application, fellows must provide official confirmation from the institution with their award acceptance materials.  
• Master’s/first professional degree fellowships are intended for master’s or professional degree-level programs such as J.D., M.F.A., L.L.M., M.Arch., or medical degrees such as M.D., D.D.S., etc. Certificates, associate degrees, and undergraduate degrees are ineligible.
• Doctoral fellowships are intended for doctorate degrees classified as research degrees, such as Ph.D. or Ed.D.
• Postdoctoral applicants must provide proof of their doctorate degree; hold a doctorate classified as a research degree (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D ., D.B.A., D.M .) or an M.F.A. by the application deadline ; and indicate where they will conduct their research.  
• Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral applicants must be enrolled in a U.S.-accredited institution located in the U.S. during the fellowship year.  
• A limited number of awards are available to Graduate Women International members for study or research in any country other than their own. Note that foreign branches of U.S. institutions are considered outside of the U.S.
• Applicants can apply for the fellowship for any year of their program but must be conducting a full year of study or research. International Fellowships do not provide funding for a partial year of study or research. Programs ending prior to April of the fellowship year are not eligible.
• Distance learning/online programs: Master’s/first professional degree and doctoral fellowships support traditional classroom-based courses of study at colleges or universities. This fellowship program does not provide funding for distance-learning or online programs or for degrees heavily dependent on distance-learning components. Final decisions about what constitutes distance learning under these fellowships will be made by AAUW. AAUW will accept applications from applicants who are temporarily studying remotely due to COVID-19 precautions at their institution.

Criteria for Selection and Application Review

The panel meets once a year to review applications for funding. Awards are based on the criteria outlined here. Recommendations by the panel are subject to final approval by AAUW. Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis according to funds available in a given fiscal year.

To ensure a fair review process, AAUW does not comment on the deliberations of its award panels. AAUW does not provide evaluations of applications. No provisions exist for the reconsideration of fellowship proposals. Applications and supporting documents become the sole property of AAUW and will neither be returned nor held for another year.  

• Applicants residing in their home country at the time of application, from developing/emerging countries, or from an underrepresented group in any region, will receive special consideration.
• Position on return to home country.
• Academic and/or professional qualifications.
• Demonstrated commitment to the advancement of women and girls in home country.
• Proposed time schedule.
• Quality and feasibility of proposed plan of study or research.
• Demonstrated evidence of prior community and/or civic service in home country.
• Applicant’s country’s need for specialized knowledge or skill.
• Financial need.
• Motivation for graduate study or research.

Regulations

International Fellowship funds are available for:

• Educational expenses.
• Living expenses.   Dependent child care.  
• Travel to professional meetings, conferences, or seminars that do not exceed 10% of the fellowship total.  

International Fellowship funds are not available for:

• Purchase of equipment.  
• Indirect costs.  
• Research assistants.  
• Previous expenditures, deficits, or repayment of loans.  
• Publication costs.  
• Institutional (overhead) costs.
• Tuition for dependent’s education.  
• Grants-in-aid for less than a full academic year or travel grants.  
• Travel to or from a fellow’s home country.  
• Travel to or from the fellow’s research location, if abroad (does not apply to fellows who are GWI members with AAUW approval to study or research in a country other than their own).    

AAUW regards the acceptance of a fellowship as a contract requiring the fulfillment of the following terms:

• All International Fellowship recipients are required to sign a contract as an acceptance of the award. Retain these instructions as they will become part of the fellowship contract if the applicant is awarded a fellowship.  
• An International Fellow is expected to pursue their project full-time during the fellowship year (July 1–June 30). No partial fellowships are awarded. Fellowships may not be deferred.
• Any changes in plans for the fellowship year must have the prior written approval of AAUW. AAUW must be notified promptly of any change in the status of an application resulting from the acceptance of another award.  
• Fellows may spend up to two months traveling abroad for research related to their project plan with prior written approval of AAUW.
• Postdoctoral fellows cannot pursue a degree during the fellowship year.
• Up to five International Master’s/First Professional Degree Fellowships are renewable for a second year. Fellows will receive application information for this competitive program during their fellowship year.
• Stipends are made payable to fellows, not to institutions.
• With some exceptions based on relevant tax statuses and treaties, the fellowship stipend is subject to a 14 or 30 percent tax. AAUW will withhold these funds for payment to the Internal Revenue Service.
• The determination of whether there is a tax obligation associated with the receipt of an AAUW award is the sole responsibility of the applicant. Specific questions regarding income tax matters should be addressed with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the applicant’s financial aid office or a personal tax adviser. AAUW cannot provide tax advice. AAUW is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity founded for educational purposes.
• Responsibility for securing visas and other documents , and following policies associated with visas, rests solely with the fellow.  

Required Components*

Start the application process by clicking the Apply Now button below to access the application and create an account through our vendor site. Complete all required components in the following areas.

• Provide two recommendations from professors or professional colleagues well acquainted with the applicant, their work, and their academic background, in striving towards scholarly pursuits. When possible, recommenders should be professors or professional colleagues in the applicant’s home country who can speak about the applicant’s qualifications and about the country’s need for the specialized skill or knowledge they plan to acquire with their proposed study or research. AAUW does not accept references from dossier services, such as Parment or Interfolio.
• Transcripts** must include a list of courses taken and grades received.
• If the institution does not provide a transcript or a list of courses taken and grades received or the degree did not require coursework, an official letter from the institution where the degree was received that includes the degree completion date must be uploaded.
• Do not upload copies of additional certificates or other documents the applicant may have received during their education.
• Transcripts must include a list of courses taken and grades received.
• Many transcripts do not include current coursework. If fall 2023 semester grades are not available and are not on your transcript, a list of courses taken that semester must be provided by the institution’s Office of the Registrar.
• If the institution does not provide a transcript or a list of courses taken and grades received or the degree did not require coursework, an official letter* from the institution where the degree was received that includes the degree completion date must be uploaded.
• Transcript showing degree and date received (must be on or before application deadline ).  
• Official letter from institution where degree was received that includes the degree completion date.
• Copy of diploma showing date degree was received (must be on or before application deadline ).  
• TOEFL iBT (Internet-Based Test): 79
• TOEFL Essentials: 8.5
• Revised TOEFL Paper-Delivered Test: 60
• Cambridge Assessment: 176  
• Written statement verifying the applicant’s native language is English.
• Secondary diploma or undergraduate degree is from an English-speaking institution.
• One semester of full-time study in the applicant’s discipline at an English-speaking institution between November 202 1 and November 202 3.

*A certified English translation is required for all components provided in a foreign language. Translations must bear a mark of certification or official signature that the translation is true and complete.

**All transcripts provided must include the applicant’s full name, the school’s name, all courses, and all grades, as well as any other information requested in the application instructions.

See More Fellowship and Grant Opportunities

For questions or technical support from ISTS, our technical consultant, please email [email protected] . Enter AAUW-IF if the website prompts you for a program key. We encourage applicants not to opt out of communications from ISTS, to ensure you receive important communications from AAUW.

Thanks to AAUW’s International Fellowship (1992-93), I graduated Harvard Kennedy School … then joined the UN working for democracy and gender equality. I really want to thank you.” Mikiko Sawanishi, deputy executive head, United Nations Democracy Fund and 1992-3 International Fellow

Meet a Recent International Fellow

Alexandra Semma Tamayo has worked as a forensic anthropologist at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Villavicencio, Colombia. Her multidisciplinary approach to the identification of missing persons from enforced disappearance has helped bring justice to the families in armed conflict contexts. As an international fellow, her research in fracture patterns observed in gunshot wounds will be extremely helpful in improving the accuracy in trauma interpretation when working with human-rights violations.

Meet Our Alumnae

Tererai Trent

2001–02 International Fellow and scholar, motivational speaker and humanitarian. She founded Tererai Trent International, whose mission is to provide quality education in rural Africa. Oprah Winfrey named Trent as her all-time favorite guest. In 2017, Trent received the AAUW Alumnae Recognition Award.

Mahnaz Rezaie

2014–16 International Fellow and photojournalist, filmmaker and writer who advocates for the rights of Afghan women. She was honored at the 2014 Women in the World Summit for her short film exploring how wearing a hijab in the U.S. affected her relationships.

Sofia Espinoza Sanchez

2013–14 International Fellow and Peruvian molecular biochemist researching cancer and neurological disorders. She also co-directs the Research Experience for Peruvian Undergraduates program.

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