Research Finds Very Few Historically Black Colleges Offer a Major in Women’s Studies
“Some other HBCUs offer interdisciplinary degrees in which students can select a concentration on similar topics, and others offer minors in gender or women’s studies.”
How curious that we never hear about any student protests related to this.
The College Fix reports:
Very few HBCUs offer a major in women’s studies, research shows
Most historically black colleges and universities do not offer women’s studies as a major, which contrasts with most of the mainstream higher education institutions in America.
HBCUs either don’t offer the major at all, or they only offer it as a minor or as part of an interdisciplinary program, according to research conducted by The College Fix, which looked at 45 of the largest HBCUs in the country.
Of the 45 reviewed, only Spelman and Simmons colleges offer women’s studies as a major. Of the remaining, seven offered it as a minor or as part of an overall humanities major. The rest did not offer it as a minor or emphasis.
These findings comport with similar results from the Hechinger Report, which is focused on various education topics.
“Among the 102 historically Black colleges and universities, Spelman is the only one that offers a bachelor’s degree in women’s or gender studies,” higher education reporter Olivia Sanchez reported in mid-June.
“Some other HBCUs offer interdisciplinary degrees in which students can select a concentration on similar topics, and others offer minors in gender or women’s studies.”
The College Fix reached out to the HBCUs it reviewed to ask why women’s studies is not a major they offer, or for the handful that offer it as a minor or concentration, to ask why they do not offer it as a major. None responded for comment.
A 2015 article in Diverse Issues in Education headlined “Women Studies, Gender Studies Facing Roadblocks at HBCUs” reported that financial constraints play a role.
“As gender figures into the discourse at many HBCUs, it would seem natural for the subject to flourish at those schools. Unfortunately, financial constraints and, in some cases, cultural and/or administrative biases may keep some HBCU institutions from developing programs,” Diverse Issues reported.
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Comments
Doesn’t conferring a degree in some discipline infer some level of expertise, or at least competence, in that field?
How can someone be considered an expert in a subject that they can’t even define?
Not enough money for the college to make in Women’s Grievance Studies?
A fiction book had a concept of a “Privilege Card”.
Race, Sexual Orientation etc were ranked and scored.
HBCU’s consider Race as a higher level privilege than chromosome gender. Probably the new genders too.
Would there be any doubt that Black would be a higher privilege at an HBCU than Asian?
Whether or not a Privilege Card exists, HBCU’S and others rank everyone.
How would you ever know the orientation or eating habits of a Vegan Pansexual? Say hello. Within 5 minutes they will tell you. It’s their verbal Privilege Card.
Is there some reason we care about this?
Most HBCUs are resource constrained. Most students at HBCUs are counting on a remunerative career after graduation. Are you surprised?
It has been 50 years since the first gender studies / female studies departments were launched. Relationships between genders are just as confused as before. Where is the value added?
This can only mean that the gender activists will be out in force trying to strong-arm these programs. Remember, gender studies includes current notions of gender, otherwise known as six-impossible-things-to-believe-before-breakfast studies.