Women Leaders in Utah Government – Their Paths to Power

When both men and women work together in leadership roles, organizations thrive. This holds true for government— and democratic governance processes in general—and it supports the call to reflect gender diversity at all levels. Yet, typical conversations about women in government often focus on the need for women to run for elected office. While this is certainly important, little if no attention has been given to the lack of women leaders within the halls of government. In response to this, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers recently conducted pioneering research resulting in three research briefs that, for the first time, identified the number of women in leadership positions within Utah’s state, county, and municipal organizations. However, the numbers and statistics alone do not tell the whole story