Women and Leadership in Utah State Government

When men and women share leadership roles and work together, businesses and communities flourish more abundantly and successfully, ultimately benefiting all of Utah and its residents. This is especially true in state, county, and city government.

The Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) recently published research titled, “The Status of Women Leaders in Government – State of Utah: A 2024 Update .” I give most of the credit to Dr. April Townsend who was the lead researcher and author of this report.

American democracy is based on the concept of representation. Yet, research has shown that Utah’s socially conservative culture reinforces gender-based expectations and that those expectations play out in the experiences of Utah’s women leaders. This research sets the stage for exploring how gender-based expectations may impact women in Utah government.

Study Overview

Initial data for the research study were collected through the Utah Department of Human Resources Management. This provided information on 4,557 leadership positions representing 22,474 employees across 41 agencies and gave valuable insights into the status of Utah women as leaders.

To gain clarity regarding the levels of leadership women held in the State of Utah government, each leadership position was categorized into one of four levels: Cabinet (top leadership, including C-suite executives, elected state officers, and department directors), Executive (deputy directors, division directors, judges, and court administrators), Senior (“middle management,” including deputy/assistant division directors, general counsel/attorneys, and court clerks), or Front-line (supervisors, managers, administrators, coordinators, and analysts).

Findings

Some 41.4% of supervisory, managerial, and leadership positions in Utah state government are held by women, up from 39.3% in 2020. While this is a small change, it shows things are moving in the right direction. For national comparison, according to a 2016 report from the Council of State Governments (based on the most recent data from 2007), women in state governments nationwide held 32.2% of positions that included major policy-making responsibilities.

While women make up almost half of the state’s government workforce, their representation in leadership roles varies. Women comprise 42.2% of front-line leadership positions (up one percent from 41.2% in 2020). The largest increase in women leaders was in the senior leadership roles, where 38.9% of the positions are held by women (compared to 28.8% in 2020). This increase, however, is offset by a shift down from women in higher leadership levels, where they now comprise 30% of executive leadership positions (down from 37.4% in 2020). On a positive note, we found an increase of women in cabinet level roles, with 30.4% of the positions held by women (up from 27.1% in 2020). While there has been some positive movement, overall, these trends support the notion that women are still less likely to become leaders in Utah State Government than men are.

The agency with the highest percentage of women leaders was Public Education, at 68.7% (up from 61.1% in 2020). Other agencies that had over 60% women in their leadership and management ranks included Cultural & Community Engagement at 64% (up from 60.5% in 2020, then identified as Health & Human Services) and Health & Human Services at 62% (both were at 61.1% in 2020, when they were separate agencies). In 2020, the Courts had the highest representation of women leaders at 67.0%, but in the intervening years the percentage dropped to 52.2%.

In terms of clustering agencies into similar budget categories, the highest number of women in leadership positions are Public Education at 67.5% and Social Services at 61.3%. When it comes to agency typology, public research has consistently pointed out how gender plays a significant role in the way government organizations are structured and staffed. This data show that women have a better chance of being promoted in predominantly feminine organizations. The report also includes analysis of women leaders in state agencies by number of employees, budget, and position classification.

Recommendations

Some state government leaders have begun to implement strategies to diversify leadership. The following recommendations are offered to promote and encourage continued positive changes within the composition of state agencies, which ultimately benefits of all Utah and its residents:

1. Be more intentional about the leadership ecosystem, particularly when it applies to jobs that have traditionally been occupied by men. That includes using gender-neutral language to describe positions and responsibilities (e.g., manpower=staff, foreman=crew chief, fireman=firefighter).
2. Recognize that the increasing need for qualified talent across industries and public service roles may require implementing new strategies. By recruiting women of all backgrounds for non-traditional fields, and intentionally mentoring, championing, preparing, and promoting them into deserved leadership roles, we proactively address a workforce shortage issue.
3. Evaluate hiring processes to eliminate potentially outdated language, unnecessary minimum qualifications, and other exclusionary measures. This includes auditing job postings and interview questions and discarding practices that create barriers to entry. It also means taking a critical eye to assessment policies to ensure they are job related.
4. Commit to transparency. To make significant changes, tracking and sharing data regarding the leadership within organizations and how it reflects the communities that are served, both inside and outside of the organization, is a best practice.

Conclusion

Research shows the benefits of diverse leadership teams include improved strategic decision making, increased capacity for problem solving, enhanced resilience, increased innovation, and expanded capacity to adapt to change. A lack of women’s equal representation in the leadership ranks stands in stark contrast to the goal of a diverse government workforce that reflects the state’s population.

To learn more about women leaders in Utah state government, read?the full brief .

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Dr. Susan R. Madsen is a global thought leader, author, speaker, and scholar on the topic of women and leadership. She is also 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 . Thank you to co-author Dr. April Townsend, Ed.D. , a UWLP research fellow.

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