Eleven Major Challenges Utah Girls and Women Face

In this episode, Dr. Susan Madsen opens the new season of the Utah Women & Leadership Podcast with one of the year’s most significant research briefs: Eleven Major Challenges Utah Girls and Women Face: A 2026 Update. Drawing on insights from more than 5,200 Utahns, nearly 3,500 of whom wrote in their own words, this conversation explores how challenges, perceptions, and experiences have shifted since the 2023 statewide survey. Together, the data reveal what’s improving, what’s changing, and what still requires urgent attention for Utah women and girls.

Dr. Madsen is joined by Dr. April Townsend, Research Fellow with the Utah Women & Leadership Project and coauthor of the report, to walk through the findings and discuss the trends shaping the lives of Utah women and girls today.

Guests

Dr. April Townsend 
Research Fellow, Utah Women & Leadership Project
Coauthor — Eleven Major Challenges Utah Girls and Women Face: A 2026 Update  

Download the full 2026 research brief HERE.

Visit the Utah Women & Leadership Project website.

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Transcript

Dr. Susan Madsen 0:02

Welcome to a new season of the Utah Women in Leadership Podcast. As we kick off the 2026-2027 academic year, we're starting with one of our most important research briefs. And it's titled 11 Major Challenges Utah Girls and Women Face, a 2026 update. So every year we hear from thousands of Utahns who care deeply about the well-being of women and girls. And every year the data remind us of something powerful. We cannot solve what we do not see. Awareness really is a first step towards change. And that's why the Utah Women and Leadership Project continues to serve as the state's central hub for research, producing hundreds of reports that help Utahns understand the realities shaping women's lives. Now, in 2025, more than 5,200 Utahns completed our statewide study, and nearly 3,500 wrote in their own words what they believe are the greatest challenges facing women and girls. And because we asked the same question in 2023, this report lets us see what's shifting, what's improving, what still needs urgent attention as well. And so today we're going to walk through those findings together. I'm Dr. Susan Madsen, professor of leadership within extension at Utah State University. I'm the founding director of the Utah Women and Leadership Project as well and founder of A Bolder Way Forward. And I'm thrilled to be joined by my colleague and friend, Dr. April Townsend, co-author of this report and research fellow with the UWLP. Welcome, April.

Dr. April Townsend 1:44

Thank you for having me, Susan.

Dr. Susan Madsen 1:46

Always good to talk to you. You're a regular guest on this podcast because you and I do so much research together. So this brief was interesting to do. It's a lot of work, first of all, to um a lot of people like are not don't do emerging themes in the way that we do them. And we're really an academic institution. We let those themes rise up. So it takes some time. Talk about the process. Um, you took the lead and really did the analysis of these over 3,500 comments, and some of them are really short and some of them are longer. And so talk about the process. I think our listeners they need to know this is not just putting things in AI and having them tell us what themes uh uh emerge. This this is a very detailed process.

Dr. April Townsend 2:38

It is, and it's for qualitative research. We really do use uh for this particular thing, we used an iterative process. So that means you involve yourself in the data, you read it and you reread it just to get a holistic sense of what the content is, and then you follow that by coding it into like manageable segments, and you use descriptive labels that kind of describe the key concepts that you're seeing as you're doing this reading and rereading. Then you step back and you group the related codes together, and which creates those overarching themes, and we look at how does that address the research question of what are the challenges facing Utah women and girls? So once we have that all together, we're able to share the results of that, and we do it in a chart form. So in this uh current research, we have a table on the first page of the brief that shows the summary of that iterative process.

Dr. Susan Madsen 3:34

Thank you so much. And we're gonna just dive right into the perceived challenges. And we use that word perceive because everybody, it's it's what we're thinking, it's what's going on in our brain, what we're seeing, and and their perceptions. And so um several years ago, a couple years ago, we had the same two questions. And the two questions were what are the challenges you see, and then what are the opportunities? And well, uh our next podcast will be about the opportunities. Um, so there were 11 perceived challenges, and the top one is um is let's just start there and let's wrestle through them briefly, each one. Um, the top one is lack of recognition undervalued, and that includes sexism and bias and discrimination. And this year it was almost 1200, and about 29 percent of the um comments were about that, and 42 percent a couple years ago. I don't know. It you know, everybody's minds go in different places depending on the public politics and economy and different things. Any insights on that, uh, one?

Dr. April Townsend 4:54

Um, you know, I think perhaps some of the difference on the percentages I'll just offer the Dobbs decision had just come down when we did our research before in 2023. Um, it had just been in that area. And so I don't know whether or not that brought this issue more top of mind for folks, but I think the what we can say is the perception between both time periods is that women and girls are not viewed as equals to men. They're often assigned a lower status, they encounter lower respect, um, and sometimes even outright disrespect. And so many of the folks who responded to the both surveys would say that women are not heard or believed and um perhaps feel invisible, that they can't express themselves freely. And so I think that's something that's a powerful thing to know that in both snapshots, we're seeing the same issues still be a concern.

Dr. Susan Madsen 5:52

And one woman, I'll just give you a quote. Uh, "Utahns simply do not value the leadership ideas, contributions, and value of women." Um, that just kind of says it there. And I know, I know some of us do, and there's situations where things are going well. Some companies are really an organized other kinds of organizations who are really trying to make a difference. Was there one other quote in that area that you think describes things well?

Dr. April Townsend 6:19

I I think this one was interesting for me that um "the gap between perceptions that we've achieved equal rights and the reality, women face thousands of different challenges for what men face in their day-to-day lives seems to be going backwards." I thought that was a powerful quote. Yeah.

Dr. Susan Madsen 6:36

Thank you. Let's go to the second one, and that is the second, and we're going in the order of the ones most mentioned. And so this second one, um, there were, oh, by the way, 4,115 uh comments offered in in those over, you know, 3,000 people. And that gendered expectation category was the second most common category. And 990 people mentioned that. Give us a little more background on what what that category really means.

Dr. April Townsend 7:12

Yeah, when we use the term gendered expectations, we really are referring to that women are expected to and men, but women are expected to act and behave in a way that aligns with traditional female roles. So what we mean by that is where women often stay home and raise the children. And there's social pressure on women to behave and act that way, and that they need to put their family or their religion and what men say that they should be doing, that should be the priority.

Dr. Susan Madsen 7:41

Well, thank you. Uh, a couple of quotes that really kind of stuck out to me. One is "traditional gender roles apply uh responsibility to women for the raising of young children due to the lack of financially uh accessible childcare. Women will take years off from working, you know, in the workforce to raise their children. And this poses a challenge to their long-term financial well-being as they perceive fewer opportunities for professional growth." And I know people will push back on that. You know, we make decisions, both of us have, to have children and do those things. And and some really love that, and some are uh would, you know, really are pulled towards the workforce. But honestly, April, most people these days don't have the luxury, if there's two parents in the home, to have both not earning at least some money.

Dr. April Townsend 8:36

Yeah, yeah, that definitely is a concern. And I do think as as women look at their retirement, that's one thing that came up as well is when women don't work or they work part-time, um, investing in their retirement is a concern. And that's something that perhaps is overlooked with the gendered expectations that we have in our communities.

Dr. Susan Madsen 8:56

Yeah, thank you. We'll move on to number three, the third most common category of challenges for Utah women and girls related to the influence of religion and culture in the state. That's no surprise for both of us that have been coding data and writing reports for lots and lots of years. And many of the comments really link to gender role expectations with that, this third category, which is religious beliefs or practices. And uh a lot of people, um, almost a thousand participants, 24%, really made comments about this. Talk us through uh, I mean, it's pretty straightforward, the religious and cultural influence, but other thoughts.

Dr. April Townsend 9:39

Yeah, and in fact, one thing that I thought was really powerful was uh one of the quotes that we've included talks about how women and girls are raised in this environment, they receive messaging. So sometimes it's subtle, not so subtle, that if they choose a path outside of being a wife and a mother, that they're not following the prophet. And because they love the prophet, they love their religion, they don't know heck how to reconcile their strongly held beliefs with what their gut is telling them. I thought that was very a great insight.

Dr. Susan Madsen 10:10

Y eah, thank you. And our fourth category um that was in the 900 responses plus about 23 percent related to inequities in the work setting. And you and I have done a lot of work in the workplace setting. That was actually fifth, so right in about, so it's fourth this year, but about fifth uh last year, so very or two years ago, so very much kind of in those in the same space. So participants noticed that women had fewer opportunities for employment and leadership advancement and and those kinds of things. Tell us a little bit more about what you saw in that theme.

Dr. April Townsend 10:53

Yeah, also, you know, there was quite a few that talked about the lack of workplace supportive resources for parents. So not just women, but also men. And that inconsistency or the non-existent parental leave or other opportunities was really something that um I think played a role for how people responded here. There was one uh quote that um talked about we need to confront the outdated ideas about the kinds of roles or industries that are appropriate for women. Um they we stereotype and restrict career paths, and that limits women in sectors like tech, finance, and leadership roles. And you know, we've done recent research that talks about um some of the trades and how though there are many opportunities in that field, but because it isn't considered traditional, often women aren't supported in that area.

Dr. Susan Madsen 11:45

Good, good thought. And and of course, we always, always, April, have comments about income inequality, yes, the pay gap, and and we included four of those actually from from just quick ones. "One of the greatest challenges could be the gender pay gap, where women might earn less than men for the same work, affecting their financial stability." Another quick one "men aren't willing to acknowledge the the paid disparity in the workplace, and leaders deny that it's an issue." I do, uh you know, I do have to say I've worked with organizations, workplaces, employers who are trying to make a difference, but uh but there's still a lot of work to do. Oh my gosh, number five for this year, 626 comments were around. This is not shocking either. Uh, 15 percent about balancing career and home. Um, and how challenging that is. Um, and that was fourth, so it's right around the same, you know, we're seeing some of the same themes. Um, it's just a strain for women to do, especially if they choose to or have to, or whatever we want to call it, at full-time work, that strain of being a working mother, trying to do it all right, um, and and trying to do it like your neighbor or whatever. There's a lot of comparisons here in Utah. And the and the guilt. We saw the comments around that guilt that comes from all of that. Thoughts?

Dr. April Townsend 13:23

Yeah, the guilt is huge for for sure. That is a concern for many. Um, another was uh I want to just point out one quote that really I thought was powerful. It says "women are facing an exhausting and unfair burden created by conflicting cultural demands that simultaneously elevate the social status of motherhood while penalizing it economically." I thought that was very, very powerful insight.

Dr. Susan Madsen 13:50

Uh, but these those are the top five. And I do want to mention, we'll go more briefly through these other ones, but they're all so important as well. I mean, the six out of the 11 was experiencing abuse, assault, harassment. And and we're currently doing uh, you know, doing another study on that because that's a disturbing trend here in the state of Utah. 462 comments, so 11.2%. That's a lot of people still talking about that. Give us a few thoughts there.

Dr. April Townsend 14:23

I think it's important, and I and I think it means that the trying to bring awareness to this issue is working because there are concerns around sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, emotional abuse, the sexualization of women, that whole area. And so in my mind, seeing this come up in terms of ranking, being ranked sixth this year and ninth the last time we did it, shows that this is becoming people are becoming more aware that these are having impacts, and it impacts the survivor's health and their confidence and their sense of safety. So now we do something about now that we know we need to take action, right?

Dr. Susan Madsen 15:04

I love it. Yep. And our number seventh was titled Lack of Support or Opportunities. 434 comments, still a lot of people over 10%. Um, and and that compares uh to about 15%. So you never know. I mean, things shift from year to year. So a little shift there, but but uh and a little downward, right? Um, but what did you yeah, give us a couple of your thoughts?

Dr. April Townsend 15:32

So this area really um kind of captures the perception that women and girls don't receive as much support um from their family members, from their teachers, um, they may maybe have limited access to mentors. And another area that was highlighted was single mothers and how there's insufficient support for women um who are single mothers and also for those who maybe decide to stay home as caregivers. So quotes talk about being put down, my academic interests aren't as encouraged as my brothers, and so we're still seeing that this is an area that women and and girls in Utah face.

Dr. Susan Madsen 16:13

Thank you. We're on number eight out of 11, and this does still like rise rise to one of the top. I mean, there were other things besides our 11, but though those were the ones that really rose to the top. But 410 people, so 10% say, you know, really identify challenges related to struggles with self-worth and self-confidence. And uh so that's eighth this year, it was sixth um a couple years ago, right in that mix, right? Um a couple thoughts there.

Dr. April Townsend 16:51

You know, this really captures how there are deep challenges, internal challenges that women and girls in Utah face, and that pressure to look perfect, that that focus on appearance, I think is what this area really tried to communicate.

Dr. Susan Madsen 17:06

Oh, yeah, that's still there. And and most of us at some level, whether it's confidence just in one piece of our life or confidence overall or self-worth, do struggle. So it's not just a few people. I I think men do in various ways as well. So uh one comment, one very short comment in that, uh, that someone one of the people that took the survey said, "we are always underestimated and our ideas get shut down." So that that takes a toll on confidence. Number nine, uh, we do a lot of work on women and leadership. So the comments uh related 372, 9% on the lack of women and leadership. What did you see?

Dr. April Townsend 17:53

Yeah, this is um so the leadership is not only in business, but also in positions of power. So seeing um fewer women in Utah politics than people would like to see. You know, we we do have some research that shows that, you know, out of the state legislators we're ranked 31st. We have 31.7% of our state legislators who identify as female, and that's 31st in the nation. We definitely can do better there. Um we do have women um as mayors in about 61 of our cities, so that's that's good. But I think the comments that we have here are saying we need more. We need women's voices making those leadership decisions.

Dr. Susan Madsen 18:36

And and you know, that's business too in other spaces, but more and more we're seeing people focusing on that public domain because they are seeing, you know, I think in past years sometimes we ignore a lot of that, but that we're seeing how those people that are serving in office are making decisions that impact our lives, our what we can purchase in terms of housing. What's I mean, all of that? It affects our everyday life. So thank you for those words. Number 10, we're getting there. Um, there was a bucket, almost 300 comments still on medical and health resource concerns. What were some of the things there?

Dr. April Townsend 19:19

Yeah, the things that we saw were a lot of it had to do with women's um health, their reproductive health, and their mental health. So those are the areas where we really saw, you know, there's a lack of education or resources around that and overall needing additional education and um resources in that area.

Dr. Susan Madsen 19:38

Thank you. And then the last one, 261 comments. And again, there were comments about a lot of other things that didn't make it to this list. We'll we'll mention a few in just a second. But this last one was still that lack of education or training. And there are uh there we definitely increased with women going to college and so forth. So talk about what were those concerns, even though we have seen increases in in uh training and education.

Dr. April Townsend 20:08

We have, but many felt that the education of women and girls still isn't prioritized. And so they have fewer opportunities and less encouragement to pursue education, particularly if it's outside the traditional gendered norms. Um, some of the comments offered that even though education may be available, um, can they access it through their finances? So while they're yes, maybe a local college, can I afford it? Um, so that was an issue as well. There was one uh quote, if I can share, just really quick, Susan. One said, "Many women put their dreams of higher education on hold, waiting until their children are older or until family obligations lessen, which means sometimes indefinitely."

Dr. Susan Madsen 20:52

Yeah, absolutely. And just recently, and doing interviews for another study that we're doing, have heard like I had to do that because it would be selfish for me to finish my education. Um, also, one thing that I've seen the last couple of years is many women reach out and are really single moms or whatever, but they've been able to complete their uh undergraduate degree, but there's so few scholarships for graduate degrees. And I'll tell you, a lot of these women are single moms, and you and it's important. You master's degrees really put you in leadership, your salary increases, there's benefits, but there's very few uh scholarships.

Dr. April Townsend 21:39

Interesting. Yeah.

Dr. Susan Madsen 21:40

So so there were some others. Uh there were 94 additional things that didn't get coded, uh about some political issues that are going on, um, you know, challenges related to dating, finding a support partner, um, uh some that acknowledged and reminded us that women of color and women who identify as LGBTQ have additional barriers, right? And we've seen that so much in our research. Um, any other any other comments there of things you saw?

Dr. April Townsend 22:15

No, just really emphasizing the politics really came up in in this area um when it was mentioned. And I was surprised at how many did emphasize it's difficult finding a supportive partner and how important that is overall.

Dr. Susan Madsen 22:28

Yeah. Thank you so much. So we've walked through all 11. Uh, this has been quite a few of them, but you know what? These are the things that are on people's minds, and these were not just women, these were women and men, right? Um, and and some that that identified as LGBTQ as well. So uh, you know, a mix of what Utahns are thinking, and again, over 3,000. So this is a really good sample. What would you? I don't want to read to kind of give people uh uh uh too many 11 titles to to keep it in the uh top of their minds, but what are uh maybe a few things that you would offer as reminders or next steps uh as we move forward to closing this uh podcast today?

Dr. April Townsend 23:22

So I think the most important thing on this, the takeaway for me would be don't discount the challenges that women are facing. Um and I think when we look at even the first two, the lack of recognition, feeling undervalued, um, the bias of discrimination, and then also the gendered expectations of what we expect women to be doing. I think those, it's important to remember that those have an impact on women. And it can feel oppressive in trying to have what do I want to do with my life? Well, you've already have somebody trying to point a certain direction that may or may not align with where you really want to be. And so acknowledging that and being more aware of that, I think is useful.

Dr. Susan Madsen 24:02

April, thank you so much for being here today and for sharing your insights. And a special thanks to Utah Public Radio, USU Extension, and to Nick Poreth for his technical support. At the Utah Women and Leadership Project, our mission is simple and bold: to strengthen the impact of Utah girls and women. If you'd like to explore this topic further or dive into our research and resources and upcoming events, you can visit us at utwomen.org. And if you're ready to be part of the statewide movement advancing women and girls, you can join us at abolderwayforward.org. Thank you for listening and thank you for being part of this work.