By Becky Jacobs
Editor’s note: This article is part of a series examining the status of Utah women. Read the editorial explaining the project and fact checks on issues that typically drive the state’s ranking as the nation’s worst place for women. Take the quiz to see if you can tell whether a statement was said about Utah women in 1964 or 2019.
If Utah is going to shed its reputation as the worst state for women’s equality, it needs to eliminate its gender wage gap, increase the number of female leaders in business and politics in the state, and support women pursuing college degrees.
That’s what readers told The Salt Lake Tribune in an online survey earlier this month, which included two open-ended questions:
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What would you like to see change about the lives of women in Utah?
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How can Utah improve its national reputation as a poor state for women’s equality?
“The list of what Utah could do could fill a book,” one person responded. Another wrote, “Who cares about the reputation? Let’s change the reality.”
The Tribune received more than 150 responses. Answers to the two questions often overlapped, with similar, dominant themes appearing in each. For instance, reducing the gender wage gap would improve the lives of Utah women, as well as how other states view Utah, readers wrote.
