USU UWLP Publishes Second of Six White Papers: Women in the Workplace Part 2

The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) at Utah State University has released the second of six white papers sharing the results of a comprehensive study conducted earlier this fall. The study supports “A Bolder Way Forward,” a statewide movement focused on ensuring that more Utah girls, women, and their families thrive.
The second white paper shares the findings from four topic areas: Entrepreneurship, Workforce Development, STEM Fields, and Leadership Development. The 82-item survey, taken from Oct. 1 to Nov. 20, 2024, included a combined sample (representative and convenience samples) of 4,721 Utahns, including 1,123 men.
“For those who want to more deeply understand the perceptions and attitudes around the challenges Utah women and girls face, this 49-page report contains a significant amount of critical data that can help,” said lead researcher and author Susan Madsen, UWLP director and Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor of Leadership in the USU Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. “We invite the public to view this report in its entirety. This is our second year of data collection, so the report addresses how data may have changed since the inaugural 2023 survey.”
Entrepreneurship
Four survey items provide additional insights about women’s aspirations, experiences, and success in starting and growing businesses in Utah:
- I would like to start a business if I had the opportunity and resources.
- If I started a business, my family and friends would approve/support my decision.
- If I started a business, it would grow big enough to employ others.
- If I were to start a business, I would know how/where to access resources and support.
Some 83% of Utah women agree at some level that their family and friends would approve and/or support their decision to start a business, compared to 78.1% of men. Women respondents living in Summit/Wasatch counties were most likely to agree, while women in the Tooele, Morgan and Rich areas had the least agreement.
“It is interesting to see women’s levels of agreement higher than men’s on this topic,” Madsen said. “Our past research indicates that many Utah women start businesses to accommodate the flexibility they need to manage home and family responsibilities. Perhaps the stronger agreement among women results from having a male partner who can provide a stable income, though more research would be needed to test the merit of this assumption.”
Workforce Development
Utah women make up approximately 44.2% of the state’s workforce, so it is imperative that there are sufficient pathways for women to get better jobs. Four survey items provide insight to improve workforce development opportunities:
- I am aware of and know how to access resources and support to attain a quality job.
- I believe I am currently employable or can become employable within the next 12-24 months.
- My circumstances permit me to maintain successful employment over the next 5 years.
- I believe that I can find successful employment in Utah that works for me and my family.
For example, 27.5% of women respondents disagreed or were neutral about accessing resources and support to attain a quality job.
“The survey data shows that a substantial number of women in Utah need help to understand how to access resources and support to ensure they can attain a quality job,” Madsen said. “Women respondents who were 65 and older were least likely to know how to access resources; while not surprising, it highlights that those at or past retirement age are least likely to know where to turn if they need to remain in the workforce.”
STEM Fields
Four survey items regarding STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields can provide additional insight into strategies for involving, supporting, and guiding more women and girls toward high-paying, high-demand careers:
- STEM fields are welcoming fields for women and girls in Utah.
- More women are not needed in STEM fields in Utah.
- STEM jobs are more complex than jobs in other industries in Utah.
- Women can successfully advance their careers in STEM industries in Utah.
The majority of Utahns (54.8%) agree on some level that STEM fields are welcoming fields for women and girls, with the most significant agreement coming from respondents residing in the Tooele, Morgan, and Rich county areas and the lowest agreement reported by respondents in Iron, Salt Lake, and Cache counties. There was also a significant difference between the agreement levels of men and women, with men believing that STEM fields are more welcoming to women than women believe they are.
Leadership Development
Four items from this study provide insights that may help determine how to help more Utah girls and women overcome barriers and strengthen leadership abilities:
- I aspire to be a leader.
- Others consider me a leader.
- I see myself as a leader.
- There are opportunities and resources around me to help me develop leadership skills.
“It appears that women’s aspiration for leadership is as strong as that of men, which most likely reflects a shift in recent years,” Madsen said. “Extensive research has established that when women and men lead together in equal numbers, benefits spread to families, communities, businesses, and society.”
Some 76.6% of women respondents agreed at some level that they aspire to be leaders, with the strongest agreement among women ages 18-54. Nearly three-fourths of respondents agree at some level that there are opportunities and resources to develop leadership skills. However, women respondents living in the central and eastern rural county groupings were less likely to agree than women living in Summit and Wasatch counties. In addition, while there were no significant differences across various religious affiliations, women who identified as “very active” in their religions agreed the most and those who selected “not at all active” agreed the least.
“As Utah decision-makers and residents join to find ways to strengthen the impact of girls and women more effectively, more Utah women and families will feel connected to our state’s well-known mantra: ‘This Is the Place,’” said Madsen. “And when more women can feel like ‘This is Her Place,’ too, we will know Utah is finally becoming a place where women are truly valued.”
Deborah Lin, UWLP’s local outreach and curriculum manager, is a second author of the white paper.
Contact
Melinda Colton
Melinda.Colton@usu.edu