Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Utah Women & Leadership Project White Paper

Volume

17

Publisher

Utah Women & Leadership Project

Publication Date

4-17-2025

First Page

1

Last Page

18

Abstract

During the fall of 2023, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline for public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes about challenges that Utah women and girls face. In early 2024, UWLP published 20 research summaries1 that shared the results of this comprehensive study. Then, in the fall of 2024, the survey was administered again around the state of Utah with slight refinements. Between January and April of 2025, we have shared the results of the 2024 data by releasing six white papers, this being the final report in the series. The full set of reports include the following:

  • Women in the Workplace: Part 1: Utahns' Awareness, Understanding, and Attitudes
  • Women in the Workplace: Part 2: Utahns' Awareness, Understanding, and Attitudes
  • Women's Safety and Security: Utahns' Awareness, Understanding, and Attitudes
  • Women, Finance, and Education: Utahns' Awareness, Understanding, and Attitudes
  • Home, Health, Community, & Allyship: Utahns' Awareness, Understanding, and Attitudes
  • Utah Women, Discrimination, and Sexism: Experiences and Perceptions

The comprehensive study was designed to support the efforts of A Bolder Way Forward (BWF), which is a statewide initiative focused on ensuring that more Utah girls, women, and their families thrive. Each area of focus (spoke) has bold goals with data-driven metrics to measure progress. This research focuses on collecting and analyzing data to help track this progress for those goals based on potential shifts in public awareness, understanding, and/or attitudes related to each spoke. The research documents the status quo and pinpoints shifts that are critical for Utahns to progress in the topic areas.

The following lists the five overarching categories within BWF and the 18 spokes included in this research:

  1. Education: Finance, Higher Education Attainment, and K–12 Initiatives
  2. Community Engagement: Political Representation, Boards and Commissions, and Civic Engagement/Advocacy
  3. Safety and Security: Child Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Poverty and Homelessness, Sexual Assault, and Sexual Harassment and Gender-Based Discrimination
  4. Health and Wellbeing: Health Across the Lifespan, and Home and Family
  5. Workplace: Childcare/Pre-K Programs, Entrepreneurship, Gender Pay Gap, Leadership Development, Organizational Strategies and Workplace Culture, STEM Fields, and Workforce Development

In the first five white papers, we presented quantitative results in the 18 areas of focus, with applicable qualitative analyses for each. Survey participants had been encouraged to share additional thoughts, insights, or ideas related to the challenges that women and girls face in Utah. During the qualitative analysis, researchers noticed an overarching theme of discrimination and sexism throughout the responses in most spoke areas. Hence, to understand more deeply what Utahns had written, we reanalyzed the qualitative responses, specifically looking for those themes and gleaning further understanding. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to share a comprehensive overview of the responses offered by survey participants—with an eye toward understanding discrimination and sexism—to the one open-ended question posed at the conclusion of the survey.

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