Although Utah was recently ranked The Best State in America by U.S. News & World Report and receives many accolades, we have significant issues that need to be acknowledged and addressed.
This includes high levels of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse and gender-based discrimination, while also ranking 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.
Utah women and girls thrive — and as a result so do boys, men, and families — when all aspects of their safety, security, health, and well-being are met, allowing 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 the spring of 2022, I enjoyed meeting with leaders and residents in Summit County to brainstorm how to better strengthen the impact of girls and women in your area. My Utah Women & Leadership Project colleague, Amy Anderson, and I collected ideas and strategies from 35 residents that individuals, groups, and organizations can use to address the complex and unique issues that women and girls in Summit County face.
During our conversation, six primary areas of concern emerged: Youth and sports, education, health and well-being, business and economics, culture and religion, and community engagement. Attendees suggested specific ideas within each of these areas, and I thought I would share some of them here (you can read more details in our published report).
Youth & Sports: Summit County has a high prevalence of girls and women participating in sports and outdoor activities, and the importance of increased opportunities and role models was a key topic of discussion. Summit County would benefit from a county youth center where diverse youth can come together to learn life skills, connect with local organizations, receive mentoring, and share experiences. Summit County should convene a county youth council composed of teens from a variety of organizations to allow young women an opportunity to speak out and lead. Additionally, parents and leaders can emphasize the importance of all types of physical activity when girls are young, expose girls to the abundance of opportunities Summit County has to offer, and prioritize women’s sports to the same degree as men’s.
Education: Schools play an essential role in developing leadership, confidence, and competence in girls and young women through curriculum and opportunities in Summit County. Ensuring that women complete high school and obtain college certificates and degrees is critically important to continue a woman’s development. Leaders in Summit County can teach leadership skills to girls in all K-12 schools, emphasize financial literacy education for girls, urge girls to run for student government positions, inform girls of the many college major options and STEM, recognize and address gender bias at school, use inclusive language, and promote opportunities for all students, emphasize the value of being bilingual and support first-generation students, and encourage school boards to partner with local nonprofits to educate girls on community opportunities.
Health & Well-being: In Summit County, there is concern over the mental health and emotional well-being of girls and women. Negative self-esteem, poor body image, and low confidence levels are prevalent among girls and women in Summit County, including rates and effects of sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence. Community members and leaders of Summit County can make change by believing girls and women when abuse is reported, help them take appropriate action and support them through the process, lower barriers to mental health resources and support with special attention to obstacles experienced by girls and women of color, normalize consent by teaching how to set and enforce boundaries, and empower girls and women to speak up and advocate for themselves.
Business & Economics: Summit County women struggle with a lack of affordable and available child care, limited opportunities for internal advancement and leadership, and bias — conscious and unconscious. Summit County residents in the business sector can identify and empower male allies who will advocate for girls and women in multiple spheres, increase the number of women on boards and commissions and in leadership positions, encourage businesses to build and support women’s networks, provide affordable and accessible care for children and elderly parents, provide training and mentoring to help women connect with each other, local businesses, and nonprofits, encourage women to seek work in professions where women are under-represented, coach current and potential entrepreneurs, and host a career fair with a focus on women in leadership from different sectors.
Culture & Religion: Culture in Summit County is heavily influenced by religion and there is a significant local Hispanic subculture. It is important to understand and separate the “why, and how we do what we do” of culture. Religious and cultural leaders in Summit County can help girls and women thrive by encouraging self-determination of life choices rather than assuming those assigned by culture, religion, and tradition, increasing Latinx representation in leadership, involving Latinx individuals and organizations in community decisions and initiatives, providing resources and events in Spanish, increasing male awareness of issues affecting girls and women in a non-threatening and non-shaming manner, consider how male children perceive women in power, ask who is not at the table and/or missing from each discussion, invite them to participate and listen to them, and shift responsibility for sexualization to the perpetrator rather than the victim.
Community Engagement: Summit County appreciates the strengths of local women and the power and influence inherent in their lived experiences and stories. To maximize the potential of these women as local assets to empower and inspire others, Summit County can identify potential female political candidates, encourage them to run for office at all levels, and train and support them through the process, initiate an annual Women’s Week in Summit County to eliminate barriers, invite action, and coordinate next steps, create a women’s resource center to host mentoring programs, provide educational classes and resources on all areas addressed in this document, hold support groups, learn leadership skills, and provide on-site child care to facilitate participation.
Overall, I believe there is so much potential in Summit County for positive change that can ensure that more girls, women, and their families — including boys and men — can better thrive.
In 2023, my team and I launched “A Bolder Way Forward for Utah,” a statewide movement with coalitions in each county to help make sure this happens. You can learn more about the Summit County Coalition here or reach out to [email protected] about how you can get involved.
The full report is available here. Thank you to Utah State University-Jared Hawkins of USU Extension, and to the many collaborators and partners in Summit County who supported the community conversation.
Dr. Susan R. Madsen is the Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor of Leadership in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University and the founding director of the Utah Women & Leadership Project.