UWLP Blog - Snapshot

The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) at Utah State University recently published a research brief, “Substance Use Disorders Among Utah Women: A 2025 Update.” The research examines how substance use disorders (SUDs) impact women in Utah and across the United States. Using state and national data, the report explores how Utah’s patterns compare to national trends, and it highlights the unique factors that shape substance use in the state. The analysis focuses on three key areas: prevalence and demographic differences in substance use among women; the intersection of women’s health, pregnancy, and trauma; and current efforts and programs aimed at reducing SUDs throughout Utah.

The Utah Women and Leadership Project releases a snapshot which examines how cultural, social, religious, and personal factors influence body image, perceptions of cosmetic surgery, and beauty standards in Utah. Using state and national data, the report explores whether Utah’s reputation for high rates of elective cosmetic procedures reflects reality or perception. The analysis highlights four key areas: body image and societal beauty standards; cosmetic surgery data; cultural and social explanations for perceived trends; and ongoing efforts to promote positive body image among women.

Utah Women & Leadership Project has released a research snapshot that looks at rates and long-term impacts of child sexual abuse, as well as Utahns’ perceptions of the issue, and makes recommendations for improving prevention in Utah.

The Utah State University Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) has recently published a research report, “Utah Women and Mental Health: A 2025 Update." This report builds upon a 2017 snapshot and incorporates new data and trends. Among the vast range of mental health conditions, depression and anxiety disorders are among the most common in Utah.

The Utah Women & Leadership Project has released a research snapshot that examines factors affecting Utah women and their finances, some of which are continuations of trends dating back 75 years. Some include growth in women’s workforce participation, shifts in rates and ages for marriage and childbearing, and new factors, including the global pandemic and current economic challenges.

The Utah State University Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) recently published a research snapshot, “Women and STEM—A 2025 Update,” that revisits and builds upon the findings of a similar 2022 report. The recent report offers an expanded snapshot of how STEM is shaping the lives of women, girls, and families in Utah. This update explores key developments in education, employment, barriers, and emerging opportunities within the STEM landscape.

The Utah Women & Leadership Project has released a research snapshot that examines factors affecting Utah women and their finances, some of which are continuations of trends dating back 75 years. Some include growth in women’s workforce participation, shifts in rates and ages for marriage and childbearing, and new factors, including the global pandemic and current economic challenges.

Utah Women & Leadership Project has released a research snapshot that looks at rates and long-term impacts of child sexual abuse, as well as Utahns’ perceptions of the issue, and makes recommendations for improving prevention in Utah.

A recently released 2024 report looks at Utah women and the consequences of an aging population for the economy, healthcare, individual financial stability, and social support systems.

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.

UWLP provides a research update to its 2018 childcare report, which focuses on childcare needs, childcare accessibility, challenges faced by childcare providers, emerging childcare policy changes, and what Utahns can do to help improve the childcare landscape in the state.

Given the high rates of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, continued research is crucial to inform both policy and practice and to help new mothers most at risk. To learn more, view our full research snapshot and infographic.

This research snapshot looks at the unique needs of single mothers nationally and within Utah.

Given the high rates of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, continued research is crucial to inform both policy and practice and to help new mothers most at risk.

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.

Preventing and otherwise reducing domestic violence rates will improve the health and well-being of women and families in Utah and strengthen the positive impact of women in their communities and the state.

Although Utah’s rate of homelessness is less than the national rate, thousands of individuals and families experience homelessness each year. We must continue efforts to provide resources for those currently experiencing homelessness and develop strategies that ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.

Suicide is a serious, evolving, and complex public health issue that negatively impacts individuals, families, and communities across Utah, the nation, and the world. Suicide can have lasting and harmful effects on everyone touched in some way, and it carries high economic and human costs.

With the high rates of sexual assault in Utah, continued research on adult and child sexual assault cases is critically important. Research can inform both practice and policy to improve care for sexual assault survivors and reduce sexual violence throughout Utah.

The data in this report provide a snapshot of the existing disparities in several areas specifically related to Utah American Indian women. It also provides a starting point for meaningful, targeted change.

Utahns can increase equity and equality within the state by utilizing data to recognize the impact of gender and race in our everyday lives. The state can use these data to better utilize the talents, ideas, and resources that Latina women have to offer the state, employers, and Utah families.

Utah needs significant investment into efforts that encourage and mentor Utah girls and young women to pursue STEM education and careers, and industries must continue to improve the corporate climate to attract and retain women in STEM fields.

As we seek to provide greater access and opportunity to all Utah residents, the state can use these data to better utilize the talents, ideas, and resources that Black women have to offer the state, employers, and Utah families.

The data in this report provide a snapshot of the existing disparities in several areas specifically related to Utah Asian women. Thus, the report provides a starting point for meaningful, targeted change.

The data in this report provide a snapshot of the existing disparities in several areas specifically related to Utah Pacific Islander women. It also provides a starting point for meaningful, targeted change.

Despite public perceptions that human trafficking is only an international problem, it occurs in the United States and even within urban and rural areas of Utah.

Data on Utah women suggest that sexual minority women are economically disadvantaged with respect to three key areas: educational attainment, employment status, and household income.

Women in Utah have a strong history of political engagement. This research snapshot outlines recommendations for Utah women and girls' civic engagement as well as the importance of civic participation as it has the potential to influence every aspect of society.

This snapshot summarizes the gender wage gap in Utah, which is the difference between what women and men earn for performing full-time, year-round paid work. Closing the gap will strengthen economic stability and prosperity for families, communities, and the state.

This snapshot summarizes research regarding physical activity levels, access, and barriers for girls and young women to help decision makers understand that instilling physically active habits early can improve the health and wellbeing of Utah women for the rest of their lives.

Throughout much of history, women have been seen as an extension of their male relatives when it comes to finances; American women were not allowed to own property in their names until the mid-1800s, overt pay discrimination was legal until 1963, and women could not access credit on their own until 1974.

According to Better Days 2020, “The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of Utah women being the first in the nation to vote under an equal suffrage law. It also marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, extending women’s voting rights throughout the United States, and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, protecting voting rights of women and men of racial minorities.”

In 2016, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) released a research snapshot called “Voting and Civic Engagement Among Utah Women," the first in the Utah Women Stats research snapshot series. At the time, despite having a strong history of women’s political and civic involvement, Utah had fallen to the bottom of national rankings in terms of women’s political participation.

Substance use disorders, including the opioid epidemic, have reached crisis levels throughout the United States, and Utah is no exception. In 2017, more than 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, a number that has doubled in the past decade.

Childcare is an important consideration for millions of American families; 71% of all women with children under 18 are in the labor force, comprising one-third of the total female workforce in the U.S. Further, childcare costs are becoming increasingly burdensome; in the U.S. generally, and in 33 states specifically (including Utah), the annual cost of childcare is higher than the cost of in-state tuition at a four-year public college.

One recent in-depth study showed Utah ranking sightly below the national average in the percentage of adults who suffer from poor mental health, the state regularly reports rates higher than the national average for depression. Utah women, like women nationally, are diagnosed with depression at much higher rates than men.

Women who reported sexual harassment, the "silence breakers," were chosen by time magazine as the person of the year for 2017. Although workplace sexual harassment has likely been around since the conception of workplaces, and sexual harassment has been illegal in the U.S. for decades.

In September 2017, the Utah Women and Leadership Project along with the YWCA of Utah brought a group of healthcare experts together to identify current resources/strengths, challenges, and potential interventions to help Utah women have access to health care. What follows are their recommendations organized by category.

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.

In 2016, American women earned approximately 20% less than men. Compared to White men, White women earn 75.3%, Black women earn 63.3%, Native American women earn 57.7%, and Hispanic/Latina women earn 54.4%. These numbers are comparing median earnings of full time, year-round work between men and women.

In 2016, American women earned approximately 20% less than men. 1 This gap has narrowed substantially since 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed and women earned 41% less than men; 2 yet a gap persists, and a half century later women are still paid less than men in almost every occupation.

In June of 2017, the Utah Women and Leadership Project along with the YWCA of Utah brought a group of experts together to identify current resources/strengths, challenges, and potential interventions that would help the gender wage gap in Utah. What follows are their recommendations organized by category.

A majority of the participants who had never attended college had once aspired to go. Some still see it as part of their future although existing data show that only a small percentage will actually follow through later in life. Participants who never aspired to get a college degree were a minority in this population.

Utah Women and Education Project researchers conducted in-depth research in 2010 to discover why more young women around the state are not attending and graduating from college. We discovered that fathers in Utah have a significant influence on their daughters’ college choices and regarding graduating from college.

A majority of the participants’ mothers wanted their daughters to attend college. Some mothers wanted their daughters to become independent career women while others believed that a college degree should be used as a backup plan in case their husbands were unable to care for them.

Not surprisingly, almost 90% of the young women participating in our survey believed that they received at least some level of support from their teachers in their high school scholastic efforts. A small minority (6%) felt they did not receive any support at all. The participants also provided in-depth responses regarding the influence of teachers.

In 2010, Utah Women and Education Project researchers conducted in-depth research to discover why more young women around the state are not attending and graduating from college. In this blog, we look at the influence school counselors and administrators have on young women attending college.

One of the things we discovered during our research is that school counselors and administrators can have a powerful influence on a young woman’s college decision. However, in our sample we found that only 32% of counselors and only one lone principal seized the opportunity to do so with these young women.

During my MATC schooling my senior year we had to prepare a career packet which consisted of a resume and a referral letter from an adult. He was obliged to provide the letter for me and after reading it, I realized how much confidence he had in my abilities to learn, and be a wonderful contributor to society.

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly occurring cancers among U.S. women and the primary cause of cancer death among women in Utah.1 Yet, research has found that deaths from breast cancer can be substantially reduced if the tumor is discovered early, and mammography screening is the most effective method for the early detection.

In 2010, Utah Women and Education Project researchers conducted in-depth research to discover why more young women around the state are not attending and graduating from college. Here, we look at some of the many benefits women experience after getting a college degree.

We discovered that many young women in Utah do not understand the broad value of a college education. Most (96.3%) study participants understood that a college degree can benefit them financially; they knew they could potentially get a “good” or “higher paying job” if they had more education.

According to the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, more than 40% of adult homicides in Utah since 2000 have been domestic violence related. Domestic violence is often presumed to refer only to physical violence, but it also includes many other forms of abuse—emotional, verbal, financial, and spiritual.

Over the last 50 years the presence of Utah women in the labor force has slowly increased at about 8% per year. Utah women are unique in that they are less likely to full time, year round. Many factors contribute to this including marital status, and family status. More than 40% of Utah women work in just two occupational groups.

Over the past half-century or so, Utah women’s participation in the labor force has steadily increased at a rate of about 8% per decade. According to the most recent (2015) U.S. Census Bureau estimates, women in Utah make up 43.9% of the state workforce, which is slightly lower than the national workforce.

Utah has improved its national ranking for individuals in science and engineering occupations as a percentage of all occupations: from 19th in 2013 to 13th in 2014.5 Yet, Utah women are not necessarily part of this growth, as they lag behind men in STEM participation.

Nearly one in two women in the U.S. will experience some form of sexual violence victimization in her lifetime (broadly defined), and Utah has the same overall rate. According to the most recent Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice report, when considering more specific definitions.

The gender wage gap in Utah is one of the highest in the nation; women are much more likely to work minimum wage jobs, and women in Utah have lower levels of educational achievement—particularly at the bachelor’s degree level and higher—than women across the nation.

Overall, women in Utah live in poverty at a lower rate than the national average: Utah women (12.2%) vs. U.S. women (16%), and census data for 2015 ranks Utah 12th in the nation for the percentage of people living above the poverty line. The poverty rates are notably worse for certain groups.

Utah has a strong history of women’s political and civic involvement. The state was an early leader in giving women the vote, was home to the first female state senator in the nation, and as recently as 1996, had the strongest women’s voter participation in the United States.

For many people, the beginning of a new school year is a good time to make resolutions, start fresh, and improve habits. As a 7th grade teacher, I see girls and boys come into my classroom with varying degrees of trepidation, and some come with enthusiasm. They don’t have to sign their names.