USU Extension Press Release
The Utah State University Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) published research in 2020 to determine how reflective the leadership of Utah’s government organizations was for the communities they served. The goal was to document a baseline number of women in leadership roles that could be used in the future to learn where progress had been made. A recent 2024 report provides an update to the 2020 research and focuses on women leaders in Utah’s 29 counties. A prior 2024 research brief provided an update on women working in state government; this report will be followed by an update on women working at the municipal level.
The recent report showed an overall increase of 3.2% in all supervisory, managerial, and executive leadership positions within county governments being held by women – from 42.5% in 2020 to 45.7% in 2024.
Susan Madsen, founding director of the UWLP and a report author, said it is great news that some counties are doing well in making their leadership more representative and inclusive; however, other counties are not, and this needs to be addressed.
“Being aware of this provides counties with an opportunity to improve the diversity of their leadership so that women are included,” she said.
Information for the study was obtained through a formal government records request to each of the 29 counties, county websites, and county staff.
While some positions were vacant, information was obtained on 2,810 leadership roles representing 17,941 employees across Utah’s 29 counties. Gender representation was available for all positions reflected in the study.
The study showed that Emery County had the highest percentage of women leaders at 60.9% (down from 73.6% in 2020), followed by Tooele (58.8%), Morgan (56.3%), Salt Lake (53.2%), and San Juan (51%) counties. The counties with the lowest percentage of women in leadership positions were Piute (12.5%), Juab (18.2%), Box Elder (23.4%), and Sevier (27.3%).
Researchers found that women comprise 55.5% of frontline leadership positions (up from 49.8% in 2020), 36.8% of senior leadership roles (almost the same as in 2020 at 36.9%), 41.2% of executive leadership positions (up slightly from 38.8% in 2020), and 32.1% of elected roles (up from 29.2% in 2020). Following national trends, these data suggest that the higher the position in county government, the less likely it is to be held by a woman.
Madsen said a more diverse local government workforce provides Utah’s county leaders with a greater range of perspectives when identifying and implementing public policies.
“This can be a valuable tool in creative problem solving and complex decision making,” she said. “Strategies implemented by some Utah counties have already led to greater diversity in the leadership ranks; however, there is still room for improvement.”
Madsen said the report offers 10 recommendations for improving women’s leadership roles in counties.
- Begin establishing a “tone from the top,” to advance women. Embed inclusivity, specifically for women of color, in the organization’s behaviors, attitudes, culture, and goals.
- Make a visible commitment, such as the ElevateHER Challenge and publicize it.
- Explore gender representation at all levels of leadership.
- Provide staff training that offers strategies and tools to support best practices in inclusion and belonging.
- Ensure diverse hiring interview panels to reduce bias in the hiring process, with a goal of 50% women and 50% men.
- Analyze and change gendered language in policies, procedures, job descriptions, and other documents.
- Train both women and men to respond appropriately when they encounter bias in language, behavior, or policy.
- Recognize and verbally acknowledge the leadership women provide.
- Recommend women for assignments and speaking opportunities. This can magnify their visibility within the organization, increase confidence, enhance social networks, and build credibility.
- Support and engage in the county’s A Bolder Way Forward coalition.
The report showed that while some counties are doing well in making their leadership more representative and inclusive, other counties show a distinct disadvantage for women who want to advance, particularly in non-traditional areas.
“Diverse representation is important in government,” said April Townsend, UWLP research fellow and a report author. “When women aren’t at the table, public policies and programs exclude valuable social experiences, talents and perspectives. We often talk about the lack of women leaders in corporations. Decisions typically impact stakeholders and employees in that setting, but when government leaders make decisions, it impacts entire communities.”
To see the full report, click here. To read more about the UWLP, click here.