ABSTRACT
For many students (and even more especially their parents and family members), graduation is often synonymous with getting a job. “What are you going to do with your degree?” is the common refrain heard at gatherings and events around graduation time. Although these occasions are intended to celebrate the rite of passage from college and university life, there is often a subtle undercurrent reminding the graduate of the responsibilities and duties that lie ahead. For students of women’s and gender studies, the questions of “what will you do with that degree?” tend to come up not only around graduation, but repeatedly throughout your sojourn through your studies. As we have discussed repeatedly throughout this book, women’s and gender studies is one of those majors that, while incredibly personally and professionally fulfilling, is difficult to “take home for the holidays.” In other words, it is one of those areas of study often thought by friends and family to be of dubious value in the “real” world.
