Study finds women are underrepresented in Utah government positions
The Utah Women & Leadership Project, or UWLP, recently released the final installment of their three-part research study concerning the representation of women leaders in both administrative and elected government positions.
The research is being conducted by April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen, Candice Pierucci and Brooke Smith.
The most recent brief focuses on female representation in government on a municipal level.
The study found that women hold only 29.1% of supervisory, managerial and executive leadership positions in Utah’s municipal governments. The town with the highest level of leadership representation was Marysvale at 83.3%. The lowest city was Naples at 6.7%.
Madsen started the UWLP about 11 years ago. Since then, the program has conducted research studies on the levels of women’s involvement in a variety of areas, ranging from business and nonprofit organizations to education.
This study is the first time they have looked into government specifically.
“When you look at making change in any way, but especially social change, you have to know where you are starting,” Madsen said. “That’s why we do a lot of reports on this; so we can know where we are and where to go from here.”
Brooke Smith is a graduate student at Southern Utah University in the interdisciplinary studies program, primarily focusing on public administration and leadership. She has worked in local government for 15 years.
“Representation matters. Having a voice matters. When [women] don’t have a seat at the table, we don’t have a voice in any decisions,” Smith said.
According to Madsen, the importance of having diverse representation is crucial to any sort of organization.
“We know from the research that, especially in leadership positions, better, more innovative and creative decisions are made when you have men and women working together. It’s about more than just doing the ‘right’ thing by having equality — it’s about better serving the community as a whole.”
The researchers concluded their brief by giving recommendations on how to help more women gain representation in government leadership roles. One recommendation suggested partnering with educational institutions to provide more encouragement to women. Another suggested implementing more employee and family-friendly policies in the workplace.
“Women need to step up, continue to go to school and be educated,” Smith said. “Then they need to have the courage to run for or serve in local government so they can influence and have an impact on their communities.”
Madsen stressed that even having one woman at every level of representation would have a great amount of influence, particularly in male dominated fields. However, she noted what she calls the “tipping point” which is when women make up at least 30% of the representatives at any given level. Ideally, she said, a 40-60% range will be reached eventually, making it so the ratio of men to women is roughly equivalent.
The researchers hope the data they collected will serve as a starting point to create a world with more equal representation for everyone.
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