Women’s studies is becoming an increasingly popular major throughout universities in the United States - thousands of students are graduating each year with degrees in gender or women’s studies and moving on to graduate school and successful careers in business, social work, education, the nonprofit sector, and more.

However, last November, David Horowitz wrote in The Weekly Standard that women’s studies programs in universities are based on a “political cause…….not scholarly inquiry.”

Then he proceeded to claim that several newer fields of study, like African American Studies, Latino Studies, and especially Women’s Studies, were created by “political pressures brought to bear by ideological sects. The discipline of Women's Studies, the most important of these new fields, freely acknowledges its origins in a political movement and defines its educational mission in political terms” and indoctrinate its students, he said.

The American Association of University Professors responded to these charges, saying: "It is not indoctrination for professors to expect students to comprehend ideas and apply knowledge that is accepted as true within a relevant discipline."

To me, Horowitz’s claims seem a little outrageous. He goes on to lump all these new fields of study, including women’s studies, into one category that he claims is based on politics rather than scholarly inquiry. However, I beg to differ. Women’s studies teaches students to see the world through a different perspective and to become critical, analytical thinkers - far from what Horowitz and his supports claim is “indoctrination.”

Rather, it seems courses like women’s studies are more and more being consider an essential part of a core curriculum at many universities - administrators are recognizing the importance of women’s studies not only for its factual and historical relevance but also for the valuable skills the discipline, like most liberal arts, can teach - critical thinking, analysis, learning to question and argue effectively - things that anyone would agree are important skills to have to be able to contribute much to society.

"The major prepares one to do anything any other liberal arts major does but with deeper insight into issues of oppression and celebration of women. Hopefully, this insight carries over into important issues of other groups -- making one more sensitive and therefore more prepared to do all things/jobs with greater attention to ethical standards. A Women's Studies major is taught to look for the hidden -- like looking for the silenced voices of women in history. It's invaluable!" says Larissa Semenuk, a women’s studies graduate.

Perhaps the results of a women’s studies degree are not as obvious as clear-cut and as tangible as an engineering or accounting degree, which have very clear and straight tracks from college to career, but there is no doubt a certain type of knowledge and skill set that women’s studies majors possess that don’t come with every college degree.

According to the University of Dayton, “Employers frequently hire applicants with a background in women’s and gender studies because of their superior management skills and ability to gracefully handle confrontation and conflict. Women’s and gender studies graduates report feeling better able to critically evaluate workplace situations. Additionally, graduates are better equipped to handle disputes and tense situations within the workplace. Employers also appreciate the extensive background in issues of gender, race, class and sexual preference demonstrated by women’s and gender studies graduates.”

The number of universities offering women’s studies programs is growing every year--pointing out the obvious demand in the marketplace for degrees in this increasingly popular field of study. If thousands of students are graduating with degrees in women’s studies each year and securing successful jobs in the workforce, it hardly makes sense to call their degrees mere “indoctrination” and “politics”. And to think that learning the history of women’s rights is politics could not be further from the truth!