Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies

As demonstrated by research, publications, conference/seminars, and institutional participation, the field of gender and development (GAD) continues to grow. Gender is a critical variable in the analysis of (labor/economic) development processes at both the micro and macro levels. Today, government and non-governmental organizations are paying increasing attention to the role of gender in (labor/economic) development for reasons of equity and efficiency.

During the past three decades, GAD scholarship has advanced from having a primarily descriptive to an analytical focus. It has developed increasing sophistication in terms of theory, analysis, and application. GAD researchers at the University of Florida have expertise in theory, research, and application. They represent a broad array of academic disciplines, including Agronomy, Anthropology, Food and Resource Economics, Sociology, Family and Consumer Sciences, Forestry, Geography, Women’s Studies, and others. The GAD Certificate offers students official recognition for the study of Gender and Development in these diverse fields.

Certificate Application

If you are interested in earning a Graduate Certificate in Gender and Development, you must turn in two applications. You must submit an application for admission into the certificate program and, in the semester you plan to graduate, you must submit a degree application to be certified for graduation. (This application is separate from your degree application for other degrees.) (Note: Presently, the Center does not accept Certificate applications from those not already enrolled in a graduate program at UF)

1. First, please apply through the graduate school. For information about admission criteria see Certificate Program information. For applying please use this link directly to the application.
2. Second, please notify the Graduate Coordinator that you have submitted an application to the Graduate school and submit a Gender and Development Certificate Form using the information below to guide you.

Certificate Requirements

The certificate in Gender and Development (GAD) is designed for graduate students from any disciplines who wish to focus on issues related to gender and development. All graduate students in an MA or PhD program from all colleges at UF are eligible to enroll in this program. The Certificate Form must be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator as well as the Graduate Coordinator  and the Administrator of Women’s Studies.

For the Certificate, students are required to earn 12 credit hours that include the following courses:

• 3 credit hours of Theory/methods course with WST designation —Choose from a core set of courses which includes:
  • WST 5933 Proseminar
  • WST 6508 Advanced Feminist Theory
  • WST 6935 Special Topics (Varies)
• 3 credit hours of a graduate level “SKILLS” course. (Chosen in consultation with student’s primary advisor. Skills courses should provide training in the tasks related to the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development initiatives and/or planning and utilization of participatory methodologies.)
• 6 credits of graduate level electives with at least 50% gender content. (Chosen in consultation with student’s primary advisor.)

FINAL STEP BEFORE GRADUATION: In the semester you plan to graduate, you must submit a degree application to be certified for graduation (separate from your degree application for other degrees). Certificate work must be approved by the student’s Committee Chair, Center Graduate Coordinator and the Center Director via the Learning Outcome Assessment (LOA) form (PDF). Please have your Committee Chair complete this form and submit it to the Graduate Coordinator by the mid-point of the semester of graduation. Note: We recommend that the student’s committee include 1 Core or Affiliate faculty member of the Center for Gender, Sexualities and Women’s Studies Research.

Graduate School Graduate Certificate Policy(PDF).