Utah Women in Higher Education, 2000-2017

Over the past several years, Utah men and women have made great strides toward increasing postsecondary educational attainment as an increasing proportion of adults hold a college degree or trade certificate. These efforts have brought the state closer to reaching its goal of 66% of the population holding a postsecondary degree or certificate by 2020. Despite these gains, Utah faces a shortage of educated workers and Utah consistently ranks at or near the bottom in evaluations of women’s educational attainment and equality relative to other states.

In this report we outline findings of a year-long project, funded by the Utah Women in the Economy Commission, focused on understanding factors associated with enrollment, persistence, and graduation among Utah men and women between 2000-2017. We explored the answers to five broad questions.

Research Questions

1. How can we characterize the higher education context in Utah for men and women, and how has this changed over time?
2. How does women’s postsecondary educational attainment in Utah compare to women’s postsecondary educational attainment in the US? How has this changed over time?
3. What is the extent of women’s educational attainment in Utah, including field of study, level, and institution?
4. What is the life course of students pursuing postsecondary certificates and degrees in Utah? What are the factors associated with persistence and completion?
5. How can we explain and reconcile different results from different data sources?

Our findings support other research showing progress toward postsecondary certificate and degree attainment, but we identify several key gaps in progress that keep Utah from reaching its educational and economic potential.

To learn more about Utah Women in Higher Education, 2000-2017 read the entire brief.