Page title: SDG 5: GENDER EQUALITY

Located in the College of Liberal Arts, the Women’s and Gender Studies Minor aims to educate in themes of gender studies and feminist theory. Students choose from a wide range of classes, including marriage and family, anthropology, history, environment, sociology, and politics. The Women’s and Gender Studies Minor curriculum offers students a multifaceted approach to understanding intersectional gender inequality, leaving graduates well positioned to pursue careers in research, activism, and philanthropy. This minor also equips students to better understand the needs of women and children and how to better aid them in situations relating
to hunger, education, and poverty.

Housed in the College of Liberal Arts, WMST 5980/6980: Feminist Theory, focuses on revolutionary feminist theorists and their analyses of gender subordination. Students become familiarized with a variety of theorists and the history of feminist activism. The course also includes perspectives on feminist theory, with emphasis on intersections of race, class, sexual orientation, and gender as they affect the position of women in culture. A vital course in the Women’s and Gender Studies Minor, WMST 5980/6980 involves dimensions of gender roles, relations, and identities as well as social constructions of femininity and masculinity in historical and modern adaptations.

The purpose of POLI 3720, offered through the College of Liberal Arts, is to introduce students to ways gender factors into studies of global politics. Topics include research on women; both formal and informal political institutions; women in violent conflict; gender and development; and comparative public policies regarding education, health, and work. Through lectures and informed discussions, the course explores how politics and power are gendered. By understanding the role of gender in politics and global barriers to women in leadership and society, these challenges can be addressed to enable women to enter into leadership, empower other women, and move toward a more equitable society for all.

Women’s Initiatives, overseen by the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, represent and support all Auburn University women, including faculty, staff, students, and administrative and professional personnel by addressing issues that affect personal well-being and professional needs of women across campus. Some of the programs housed within Women’s Initiatives include the Women’s Center, the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Institute, the Pathways to Full Professor and Beyond program, and the Women’s Leadership Conference. Women’s Initiatives promote gender equality by guiding efforts to facilitate the recruitment, hiring, retention, and professional development of women.

Dr. Tal Peretz, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies, studies intersectional inequalities and men’s allyship in gender justice and women’s rights movements. By focusing on anti-sexist and anti-violence activism, Dr. Peretz aims to highlight prosocial masculinities, shift masculinity norms in culture, and develop innovative anti-violence strategies. Dr. Peretz’s various research projects and publications also focus on increasing the safety of other at-risk groups on college campuses. Dr. Peretz’s research also explores how the intersections of race, class, religion, and sexual identities shape particular grassroots movements in men’s gender justice groups.

In her paper, “Speaking Truth to Power: Exploring the Intersectional Experiences of Black Women in Computing,” Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s Jakita Thomas explores the unrealistic expectations from others, isolation, and gendered racism experienced by 11 black women in computing. Thomas’s research found that, despite the obstacles confronting these women, they persisted in the field of computing. By identifying the factors that encouraged these women to persist in their field, Thomas’s work will help encourage and retain talented people from underrepresented groups in computing.