UWLP Blog - Employment

Researchers conducted a study to establish a baseline of public perceptions about the awareness, understanding, and attitudes around challenges Utah women and girls face. This summary includes K-12, Higher Ed, and Organizational Strategies.

Women make up a significant proportion of the overall labor force in the state, but many are employed in low-paying jobs with limited room for advancement. This 2023 update includes female employment nationally and in Utah.

The last 50 years have not seen one static “Utah woman.” Rather, Utah women have made diverse decisions about their childbearing and families, changing throughout the decades in response to cultural contexts, social norms, and personal circumstances.

Did you miss this Spring Women's Leadership Forum event? Don't worry! You can read about it and watch the full recording here.

The UWLP White Paper Series offers research-based reports on specific issues that impact Utah girls and women, along with related policy recommendations. This paper focuses on women's equality in Utah.

The UWLP White Paper Series offers research-based reports on specific issues that impact Utah girls and women, along with related policy recommendations. This paper focuses on leave laws in the state of Utah.

Did you miss this Women's Leadership Forum event? Don't worry! You can read about it and watch the full recording here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected workers across the globe, and women in the workforce have been disproportionately impacted. In this brief, we focus on qualitative findings regarding care work experiences—including caring for people other than one’s own children—during the pandemic.

The UWLP White Paper Series offers research-based reports on specific issues that impact Utah girls and women, along with related policy recommendations. This paper focuses on the gender pay gap and state equal pay laws.

National and global reports have argued that women's employment and careers have been disproportionately impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn about how this has impacted the women of Utah.

The COVID-19 pandemic that reached Utah in March of 2020 has had an enormous impact on the way companies do business. Many companies adjusted work practices and policies in other ways to support their employees during a challenging time.

On October 13th, the Utah Women & Leadership Project hosted a Women’s Leadership Forum entitled “Utah Women in 2020: Challenges, Opportunities, and Next Steps.” Read the recap here.

How does Utah fare in comparison to the rest of the nation? Utah is home to 287,803 small businesses that have 572,888 employees—46.2% of Utah’s workforce. In 2016, Utah was ranked 8th for women-owned businesses, 11th in growth by number of firms, 4th in growth by revenue, and 30th in growth by employment.

In September of 2019, the Utah Women and Leadership Project along with the YWCA of Utah brought a group of financial experts together to identify current resources/strengths, challenges, and potential interventions that would help Utah women financially. What follows are their recommendations organized by category.

Although Utah research has shown that there has been slight progress in terms of women and leadership in some sectors, national sources continue to rank Utah as one of the worst states for women’s equality. Clearly there is still work to be done to “move the needle” so that more Utah women become leaders.

Did you know that 72% of Utah’s adult women work? In Utah, women make up 44% of the total workforce. Utah Women and Education researchers have conducted in-depth research to shed light on why more young women around the state are not attending and graduating from college.