Overview
This course will equip you with skills in gender and sexuality research, underpinned by feminist and queer theory. You will study gender, queer practices and identities in various disciplines, including media/film studies, history, literary studies, sociological analysis and curation theory. The course covers gender and sexual practices and identities globally.
You will explore these issues in small-group discussions in a seminar-based programme, and you will be offered the opportunity to apply your learning in real-world contexts through the Research Placement module. We also help enhance your employability by giving you the opportunity to improve your digital skills and submit, if you prefer, a Digital Project as a substitute for the Dissertation.
In the Digital Project, you can design online campaigns for charities and state institutions engaging with queer individuals, and/or gender related areas like sexual violence, the gender pay gap, and the legislation on gender recognition.
Top reasons to study with us
Course objectives
Choose your own route
We offer both an MLitt degree and an MSc degree route to allow for different specialisms and research-training needs:
- The MSc degree is a recognised doctoral training programme for the Scottish Graduate School for Social Sciences and places a greater emphasis on social science research methods and data analysis. It’s the recommended route if you’re interested in PhD study in Social Sciences.
- The MLitt degree offers you more optional modules and is particularly suited to students looking for an all-round education in the study of genders and sexualities, or who are interested in further postgraduate study in Arts and Humanities.
Work placements
Your Research Placement enables you to apply your research in real-world contexts. We have connections with a wide range of potential placement providers, from leading feminist organisations and organisations advocating LGBTQ+ rights across the third sector in Scotland to a number of organisations who are committed to gender equality as part of their work in arts, culture, and sport.
Flexible learning
If you’re interested in studying a module from this course, the Postgraduate Certificate or the Postgraduate Diploma then please email Graduate Admissions to discuss your course of study.
If you’re interested in studying a module from this course, the Postgraduate Certificate or the Postgraduate Diploma then please email Graduate Admissions to discuss your course of study.
Entry requirements
Academic requirements
A minimum of a second class Honours degree (2.1 preferred) or equivalent. Applicants without these formal qualifications but with significant appropriate work experience are encouraged to apply.
Other routes of entry
If you don't currently meet our academic requirements, INTO University of Stirling offers a variety of preparation programmes that can earn you the qualifications and skills you need to progress onto some of our courses. Explore INTO University of Stirling to see the pathway and pre-masters routes available.
International entry requirements
English language requirements
If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:
- IELTS Academic or UKVI 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each sub-skill.
- Pearson Test of English (Academic) 62 overall with 60 in each sub-skill.
- IBT TOEFL 80 overall with 18 in reading, 23 in writing, 19 in listening and 21 in speaking.
See our information on English language requirements for more details on the language tests we accept and options to waive these requirements.
Pre-sessional English language courses
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this course, our partner INTO University of Stirling offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to this degree.
Find out more about our pre-sessional English language courses.
Course details
This course combines interdisciplinary core modules on gender theory, feminist research and philosophy, LGBT+ studies and queer theory, with optional modules from a range of disciplinary traditions.
Core modules focus on providing you with an interdisciplinary frame for the critical study of gender that is grounded in feminist and queer theory, and empower you with critical thinking skills to challenge and better understand how both gender and sexuality shape the work and our places in it. Collectively, they equip you with a knowledge and understanding of key debates in gender studies about ontology, epistemology and methodology, and enable you to identify the ways these debates have played out in different disciplines and contexts.
If you follow the MSc degree route, you’ll take two further research methods core modules with a focus on quantitative and qualitative data analysis, which provide advanced social science-oriented methods training. This is essential for students considering undertaking further postgraduate research in Social Sciences.
Optional modules – of which MLitt degree students take three, and the MSc degree students one – offer opportunities for wider, research-based learning, collectively providing a multi-disciplinary perspective for the study of gender issues. Advanced readings in Gender Studies allows students to work on a research project of their own choosing with one-to-one tutorial support from experts in the field. Other modules include: Queer Studies in Dark Times which considers recent developments in queer theory in the current volatile cultural climate, and Contemporary Masculinities, a timely module which takes aim squarely at shifts in attitudes towards global masculinities.
You’ll then complete the course by researching and producing your own dissertation on a Gender Studies topic of around 15,000 words.
Modules
Course Details
Teaching
The core modules are delivered in weekly in-person seminars which may combine delivery of lecture material and small group tasks/discussions and debates which seek to unpack weekly learning.
We also have regular guest speakers from research and activist areas of social politics.
Fieldwork
Some examples of field trips include (indicative list subject to regular review):
- Glasgow Women’s Library
- National Library of Scotland: Moving Image Archive
- SQIFF (Scottish Queer International Film Festival)
- Glasgow Film Festival
- Glasgow Women’s Rape Crisis Centre
- Zero Tolerance
- The Ferret
- Radical Independent Community bookstores
Assessment
Throughout the course, you’ll encounter various types of assessments, including learning logs, reviews, presentations (both individual and group), curation projects, reflective essays, literature reviews, research assignments, and standard academic essays. These assessments serve two purposes: they help you develop academic and practical skills, and they offer multiple chances for feedback and growth.
Most modules have more than one final assessment, which gradually builds your understanding and achievement of the stated learning goals. Clear assessment criteria are provided for each task to ensure transparency in the grading process. Additionally, you’ll have Feedback and Guidance sessions with teaching staff, where you can discuss your progress and receive further input.
Course director
Key staff
Dr Jacky Collins’ research engages with genders and sexualities in Spanish written and visual cultures and she has a particular interest in detective fiction.
Dr Darren Elliott-Smith specialises in film and television, gender studies/queer theory and has significant research interests in the Gothic and Horror.
Dr Eamon McCarthy’s research explores genders and sexualities across the Spanish-speaking world, with a particular focus on Argentina.
Dr Fiona Noble is an interdisciplinary researcher of contemporary Spanish cinema and audiovisual cultures interested in questions of identity and representation.
Dr Nikolaos Papadogiannis’ research focuses on Europe in the 1960s and 1970s from a transnational perspective, including protest cultures, travel, youth lifestyles, gender, sexuality, migration, emotions and European identities.
Ask an expert
Senior Lecturer, Dr Katherine Champion, a specialist in Media and Communications, explains how studying at Stirling can enhance your career prospects.
Fees and funding
Fees and costs
| 2024/25 | 2025/26 | |
|---|---|---|
| Students from the UK and Republic of Ireland | £8,000 | £9,500 |
| International (including EU) students | £18,700 | £20,600 |
University of Stirling alumni will automatically be awarded a fee waiver for the first year of Masters studies through our Stirling Alumni Scholarship.
Applicants from the UK or Republic of Ireland who hold a first-class honours degree or equivalent will automatically be awarded a £2,000 scholarship through our Postgraduate Merit Scholarship.
Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course.
If you need to extend your period of study, you may be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Eligible students could receive a scholarship worth between £4,000-£7,000. See our range of generous scholarships for international postgraduate students.
Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course.
If you need to extend your period of study, you may be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Postgraduate tuition fee loans
This course is eligible for a postgraduate tuition fee loan from one of the UK’s governments. See the Scholarships and funding section, below, for more details.
Additional costs
There are some instances where additional fees may apply. Depending on your chosen course, you may need to pay additional costs, for example for field trips. Learn more about additional fees.
Scholarships and funding
Funding
Eligible international students could receive a scholarship worth between £4,000-£7,000. See our range of generous scholarships for international postgraduate students.
University of Stirling alumni will automatically be awarded a fee waiver for the first year of Masters studies through our Stirling Alumni Scholarship.
Applicants from the UK or Republic of Ireland who hold a first-class honours degree or equivalent will automatically be awarded a £2,000 scholarship through our Postgraduate Merit Scholarship.
If you have the talent, ability and drive to study with us, we want to make sure you make the most of the opportunity – regardless of your financial circumstances.
Learn more about available funding opportunities or use our scholarship finder to explore our range of scholarships.
Postgraduate tuition fee loans
Scottish students may be eligible to apply to the Students Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for loans of up to £11,500 to cover tuition fees and associated living costs.
English students can apply for a loan of up to £12,167 each year as part of the Postgraduate Masters Loan Scheme.
Welsh students can apply for financial support of up to £18,770 as a combination of grant and loan from Student Finance Wales.
Northern Irish students can apply for a postgraduate tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 from Student Finance NI.
International students may be able to gain additional funding from loan providers.
Dr Dee Amy-Chinn Gender Studies Scholarship
Students of the MLitt and MSc Gender Studies (Applied) can apply for
Cost of living
If you’re domiciled in the UK, you can typically apply to your relevant funding body for help with living costs. This usually takes the form of student loans, grants or bursaries, and the amount awarded depends upon your personal circumstances and household income.
International (including EU) students won’t normally be able to claim living support through SAAS or other UK public funding bodies. You should contact the relevant authority in your country to find out if you’re eligible to receive support.
Payment options
We aim to be as flexible as possible, and offer a wide range of payment methods - including the option to pay fees by instalments. Learn more about how to pay
After you graduate
Graduates from this course have gone on to develop careers in academia and publishing, and have found employment with civil society and third-sector organisations, including Moving Image Library/National Library of Scotland, Glasgow Women’s Library and other museum sector work; key third sector organisations and in civil service with the Scottish Government. The enhanced focus on sexualities will make you even better placed to find a job in an organisation addressing queer individuals. Those of you who engage with the Digital Project instead of the Dissertation will be able to design online campaigns for charities and state institutions engaging with queer individuals, and/or gender hierarchies, like sexual violence, the gender pay gap, and legislation on gender recognition.
Testimonial quotes
This is an exciting and innovative course. It’s also a crucial time in the development of women’s soccer in Scotland, and as the top team in the country, we’re delighted to be able to offer research placements to Gender Studies students.
Laura Montgomery
Club Manager, Glasgow City FC
Employability skills
We offer a comprehensive employability and skills programme to help you maximise your time at university and develop the graduate attributes required by employers. We have a dedicated Faculty Employability and Skills Officer. There's also our Careers Service who work in partnership with academic staff to ensure you get the best out of your University experience and are given the right opportunities to make you ready for the world of work.
Companies we work with
Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis have been delighted to work students from the Gender Studies programme at the University of Stirling. There are so many complex areas that practitioners in our service would benefit from knowing more about and the research students we have worked with have provided us with valuable knowledge that we can then use to implement change at a strategic and operational level.
Paula Manners
Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis Centre
