The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) has just released the first of six white papers from a major statewide study that aims to deepen understanding of the challenges faced by women and girls in Utah.
The study supports the efforts of a statewide movement launched in 2023 spearheaded by the UWLP called "A Bolder Way Forward." The movement focuses on ensuring that more Utah women, girls, and their families are able to thrive.
Susan Madsen, the executive director of the UWLP and the Karen Haight Huntsman endowed professor of leadership at Utah State University, introduced the findings, which focus on four key issues: organizational strategies and workplace culture, childcare and pre-K programs, sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination, and lastly, the gender pay gap.
“We have over 4,700 people that responded to this survey," Madsen said, "so this is a big study, and we're just measuring Utahn's perceptions — men and women — related to those four topic areas. So do they understand what's going on? What are their attitudes about these topics? And so forth.”
Madsen said one of the most striking findings was the acknowledgment by participants that the gender pay gap does in fact exist, even in instances where men and women have the same education and experience.
“You can't explain it away," she said. "It is there. And most people are saying, ‘Yeah, we know. We know Utah is not good with this, and we need to change things.’”
Madsen said another surprising result emerged from the section on child care. She emphasized that the majority of participants at least “somewhat agree” the government should step in and help.
“But even more agree and strongly agree that government needs to intervene and do something," she added. "And in states that are more conservative — like Utah — government doesn't typically intervene. But child care is a mess in our state right now”
Madsen said the study also revealed a concerning lack of trust in organizations to properly handle sexual harassment.
“One of the questions on sexual harassment that we asked was ‘If you or someone you know was sexually harassed, do you trust that your organization, or organizations in Utah would do the right thing?' Basically, would they do something to help? And most Utahns are saying, ‘probably not.’”
Looking ahead, Madsen is hopeful the results of the study will lead to meaningful change.
“I have a deep and abiding belief that we need to do research. We need to know what is really happening so we're not guessing — so we actually know where we're at," she explained. "And the research on change says that if we really have the data, we know where we're starting [and] we're more likely to have successful change, and so that's what we're doing. … We've got to make Utah a place where more girls and women and their families can thrive.”
