LOGAN – The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) at Utah State University has launched a new online study of the challenges facing girls and women in Utah.
The purpose of that statewide study is to explore more deeply Utahns’ understanding, awareness, attitudes, concerns and perceptions around challenges that women and girls face here, according to Amy Z. Anderson.
Anderson is involved with the A Bolder Way Forward, a new initiative that aims to help more Utah girls, women and families thrive.
That goal is best achieved, she explains, when all aspects of the safety, security, health and wellbeing of all Utah women and girls are being met. Those assurances would allow them to explore and pursue educational, professional, civic, leadership and other opportunities according to their interests and to feel abundant levels of support and a sense of belonging as they do so.
In conjunction with UWLP — led by Dr. Susan Madsen, a professor of organizational leadership in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at USU – A Bolder Way Forward is inviting all individuals – both women and men, age 18 or older – to participate in its statewide online survey.
That survey can be found at https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d52a11WlepTEAwC
Anderson says that the survey, with Madsen as its primary researcher, takes about 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Participation is completely anonymous. For questions or concerns about the survey, please contact Madsen at uwlp@usu.edu
Madsen’s previous research has found that national and statewide studies show that women and girls in Utah are not thriving in critical areas. Year after year, Utah continues to have high levels of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse and gender-based discrimination.
Utah also ranks as the worst state for women’s equality and having low levels of women’s leadership representation in nearly all domains, including politics and business.
Although the needle has moved slightly in a few areas, Anderson says the state’s current trajectory will take three or four decades to make notable progress. She believes it is time for Utah to embrace A Bolder Way Forward.
A 15-minute overview of that initiative can be found at https://www.usu.edu/uwlp/a-bolder-way-forward/overview
Anderson is a current member of the Logan Municipal Council now employed by the USU Huntsman School of Business as the Regional Outreach Coordinator for A Bolder Way Forward, which is focused on five counties in northern Utah.
Anderson encourages anyone invested in seeing girls and women – and all Utahns – thrive to participate in the UWLP survey.