Women, Gender, and Health

This Interdisciplinary concentration is geared toward students who desire careers in research, teaching, and programs related to women, gender, and health. Addressing issues of women, gender, and health (WGH) requires the study of the health of women and girls—and men and boys—throughout the life course, with gender, gender equality, and biology understood as important and interacting determinants of well-being and disease. Areas of study also include gender and gender inequality in relation to individuals’ treatment by and participation in health and medical care systems; the physical, economic, and social conditions in which individuals live; and their ability to promote the health of their families, their communities, and themselves. Inherent within these studies is the protection of human rights as fundamental to health and the recognition of diversity and inequality among women—and men—in relation to race/ ethnicity, nationality, class, sexuality, and age. As the concentration does not offer a degree, prospective students must apply to a degree program, which can be in any department. Students must fulfill the requirements of the home department, which issues the degree, and the requirements of the concentration, which include core courses in women, gender, and health; gender analysis; and women’s health.

Contact Information

For more information about research and training in women, gender, and health, please contact:

WGH program office
Building 1, Room 1202
665 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-432-3690
Fax: 617-432-3755
E-mail: wgh@hsph.harvard.edu
Web: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/wgh