Internships in Women’s and Gender Studies

 The College of New Jersey

Students engaged in internships for Women’s and Gender Studies or WILL should enroll in WGS 399 Feminism in the Workplace either at the same time or in the semester after their placements.  In rare instances, when scheduling conflicts can’t be resolved, an internship can be completed as an independent study.  To review a description of WGS 399, visit http://gray.intrasun.tcnj.edu/399/Index.htm

The prerequisite for the internship is two prior WGS or WGST courses.

How to Find an Internship

First, make sure you have an updated one-page resume to give to prospective employers.  Career Services, the WILL director, or the internship advisor for WGST can help you make sure it’s the best one-page resume you could possibly write.

Second, think about where you’d like to work.  Think about other requirements you have…how far can you travel?  Do you need a paying internship or not?

Third, do some research about places offering internships.  Check out the WILL/WGST Internship Site.  Check out LIONSPRO (through Career Services).  Check out the Feminist Career Center at the Feminist Majority Foundation's website, the United Way's list of volunteer opportunities, Idealist.Org Internship Listings, or the Mercer County Volunteer Clearinghouse.  Talk to anybody you know who is working in a field that interests you. 

                    Some Tips. . . .

• The #1 best source of internships is people you already know, working in organizations you care about.  If someone comes to mind, contact them and ask about internship opportunities.

  The #2 best source of internships is to identify an organization in the community that interests you, even if you don’t know anybody who works there, and tell the internship coordinator what you have in mind.  She can often round up an opportunity for you by making a phone call.

  If you have a double major or WGS is your minor, some practicum activities you engage in through your other major may also work as a WGS or WILL internship.  Check with the WILL director or the WGS internship coordinator. 

  There are some “super-internships” available, mostly located in Washington, DC, where you’ll spend a semester or more away from the College in an intensive program that places you in an organization and provides you with experiential learning opportunities and additional academic credit.  Think about whether you can consider one of these programs. 

• There is a variety of on-campus positions that would count as an internship.  For instance, if you like research and plan to go on in academia, you might consider a research assistantship.  Check with faculty in fields that interest you to see if they need research help.  Or, if you’re a webbuilding wiz, there are often opportunities to advance women’s/gender issues on campus through both content building and design.

Guidelines for 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 must not be primarily a clerical position.
• The student 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.

 Once You’ve Identified an Internship . . . Forms You'll Need

Complete the Internship Entry Form and submit it to: 

WGS majors/minors:  Janet Gray WILL members:  Mary Lynn Hopps  

When the internship is approved, the person who will supervise you will need to fill out an Internship Supervisor Agreement.  You will also need to write a statement of Internship Objectives, discuss them with your supervisor, and give this form to Janet Gray.  At the end of the internship, your supervisor will fill out an Evaluation of Intern form, and you will complete an Internship Completion Form.  You’ll be asked to provide an accounting for your hours on the internship, so you should keep a record of your hours.