Guidelines for Women's and Gender Studies Internships

• The internship should advance the student’s knowledge of a career path or professional field that she is considering.

• While the student will be analyzing gender regardless of the kind of position she takes, she should give priority to finding a placement that relates directly to women and gender.

• The position’s responsibilities may include some routine clerical work, but it should not be primarily a clerical position.

• She is required to spend a minimum of 150 hours working on the internship.

• The internship site must have a supervisor who will agree to mentor and evaluate the student.  Mentorship includes reviewing the student’s goals for the internship with her at the outset of the internship; offering insights into concepts, strategies, and methods; and guiding her toward research materials that will enhance her knowledge of the field.

• For academic credit, students are required to maintain participant-observer journals, conduct research, and write a report on a topic related to the internship.  They are asked to explore with the site supervisor whether they can devise a research project that would benefit the employer while fulfilling the academic requirement. 

• The internship may be in any employment sector (e.g. business, social services, education, law, health care, psychology, government, etc.), provided it fulfills the other guidelines.

• A job the student already holds may be approved as an internship if it meets the other guidelines.