Applicable only to students admitted during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Gender Studies

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Gender Studies offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Gender Studies.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

The master’s degree program is supervised by a faculty committee. Early in their first year, students are assigned a faculty adviser who assists them with planning their program of study. Students are expected to meet at least once a quarter with their faculty adviser, usually at the beginning of the quarter to have their enrollment plan approved. At the beginning of the second year, students are expected to nominate a three-person master’s thesis committee which requires approval of the program and the Graduate Division. This committee is chaired by the student’s faculty adviser and is responsible for supervision, review, and approval of the master’s thesis.  A staff adviser provides assistance with policy and procedure.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

At least 10 courses (40 units) are required, of which at least eight (32 units) must be graduate courses. Two (four or more units) upper division undergraduate courses may be applied toward the 40 units required. Gender Studies 375, 495, and all courses in the 500-series may not be applied toward the 40-unit minimum requirement for the degree.

Required courses:

Gender Studies 201, 202, and 203 (three core courses; 12 units), plus twenty-eight elective units (seven courses).

Teaching Experience

Not Required.

Field Experience

Not Required.

Capstone Plan

Doctoral students have the option of fulfilling the master’s capstone plan to receive an M.A. degree. The capstone requirement is fulfilled through successful completion of the first written qualifying (breadth) examination for the Ph.D. degree and submission of a 20-page paper, ordinarily one written for a core course, that demonstrates independent thinking and critical and analytical skills. The paper is evaluated by the student’s adviser and either the chair or the graduate chair (or designee) of Gender Studies. This option is available only to doctoral students.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students complete a master’s thesis under enrollment in Gender Studies 598. The thesis committee consists of three qualified faculty selected from a current list of designated members for the interdepartmental program. The committee must be appointed by the Graduate Division.

Time-to-Degree

Students who enroll full-time are expected to complete the M.A. degree within two years (six quarters) of registration.

Doctoral Degree

Advising

The doctoral degree program is supervised by a faculty committee. Early in their first year, students are assigned a faculty adviser who assists them with planning their program of study. Students are expected to meet at least once a quarter with their faculty adviser, usually at the beginning of the quarter to have their enrollment plan approved. In the third or fourth year, before taking the University Oral Qualifying Examination, the student submits a four-person doctoral committee that requires approval of the program and appointment by the Graduate Division. The doctoral committee is responsible for supervision, review, and approval of the doctoral dissertation.  A staff adviser provides assistance with policy and procedure.

With a focus on responsible research skills, student’s research needs are guided by the faculty adviser to successfully complete their dissertation.  These could include a foreign language, quantitative and other methods of collecting data, IRB, computer technology skills, and/or any other skills that are necessary before advancing to candidacy

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Doctoral students are required to complete 56 units of course work. Gender Studies 375 and 495, and all 500-series courses may not be applied toward the 56-unit minimum course requirement for the degree.

Required courses:

Gender Studies core courses 201, 202, 203 and 204 (16 units). Beyond 201 (Methods in Gender Studies) four units (one course) of additional specialization or training in research methods outside the department is required, and will count toward elective units (should be completed in year two prior to second qualifying exam). An additional forty elective units (ten courses) are required. A maximum of eight units may consist of upper division undergraduate course work and/or graduate transfer credits from previous graduate course work that did not result in a degree.

Teaching assistants must enroll in Gender Studies 375 each quarter they hold a teaching appointment.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the new Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

Two written qualifying examinations are required: (1) A first-year examination covering general knowledge and current debates in the field of gender studies. This examination is administered by a committee composed of faculty designated by the chair or the graduate chair of Gender Studies. The first-year exam is due the first day of the student’s second year of study; (2) A depth examination covering the student’s area of specialization. Students are expected to have completed the depth exam by Fall Quarter of their third year. Students who fail either of the written qualifying examinations may be permitted to retake them once as determined by the faculty committee.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is required after completion of the written qualifying examinations, completion of a dissertation proposal, and appointment of a doctoral committee. The oral exam should be taken no later than fall quarter of the student’s fourth year. The four-person doctoral committee is responsible for administering the examination. The oral examination is approximately two hours in length and is focused on the student’s dissertation proposal in relation to the selected specialization. Students who fail the oral qualifying examination may be permitted to retake it once as determined by the doctoral committee.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)

Not required.

Time-to-Degree

Students who enroll are expected to complete the Ph.D. degree within six years (eighteen quarters) of registration.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

The Graduate Committee conducts an annual review of students’ progress toward the degree at the end of spring quarter and makes recommendations regarding continuance or termination. The faculty committee reviews all recommendations and formally approves or rejects any recommendation of termination. A student may appeal the Graduate Committee’s recommendation of termination to the faculty committee in writing prior to their review of the recommendation.