2025 Fall Survey Launch

In June 2023, A Bolder Way Forward for Utah (BWF) was established as a statewide movement to help more Utah girls and women thrive. National and statewide studies continue to show that women and girls in Utah are not thriving in critical areas. For the 11th consecutive year, WalletHub has ranked Utah last in the nation for women’s equity, a stark reminder of the work still to be done. 

During the fall of 2023, researchers from the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) at Utah State University conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline of public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes around challenges that Utah women and girls face. This was also conducted in the fall of 2024, and data is now being collected for the third year in a row.  

The survey focuses on the following areas: education (finance, higher education attainment, and K-12 initiatives); community engagement (political representation, boards and commissions, and civic engagement/ advocacy); safety and security (child sexual abuse, domestic violence, poverty and homelessness, sexual assault, and sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination); health and wellbeing (health across the lifespan and home and family); and workplace (childcare/pre-K programs, entrepreneurship, gender pay gap, leadership development, organizational strategies and workplace culture, STEM fields, and workforce development). 

Based on the 2023 survey data, Dr. Susan R. Madsen and UWLP published 20 two-paged research summaries. In 2024, UWLP published six white papers as part of the Utahns’ Awareness, Understanding, and Attitudes series, each highlighting specific areas of focus. These resources guide BWF leaders and community partners in setting clear goals and measurable outcomes for the seven-year movement across all 29 counties.  

UWLP’s 2025 fall survey, now open until mid-November, is being conducted. “The 2025 survey will allow leaders to see what progress has been made in the past years,” said Susan R. Madsen, founder/director of UWLP and a professor of organizational leadership at Utah State University. “We would like to get as many Utahns as possible to take the survey,” says Madsen. “It is critical we have strong samples from all counties in Utah.” 

We welcome all individuals living in the state age 18 or older to participate. The survey will take 10-20 minutes to complete. Dr. Susan Madsen is the primary researcher for this study. If you have questions or concerns, you can contact her at uwlp@usu.edu (USU IRB 15264). You can participate by visiting the links below.  

English survey: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d52a11WlepTEAwC 

Spanish survey: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3UBq3hfj6BThJHw 
 
The survey will be open until mid-November.