Introduction
Women in Hawai‘i have a distinct history, culture, and identity that shapes their status in ways that differ from other states. In the United States overall, the largest racial and ethnic groups are White, Hispanic, and Black, accounting for over 90 percent of the population of women of all ages in the country (Institute for Women’s Policy Research 2017a). In Hawai‘i, only 29.1 percent of women identify as White, Hispanic, or Black, while 60.3 percent identify as Asian/Pacific Islander (compared with 5.6 percent of women in the United States overall; Appendix Table 3). The state is also one of only seven states where men outnumber women (Institute for Women’s Policy Research 2017b).
About the author
Julie Anderson was a Senior Research Associate at IWPR. She managed the Status of Women in the States projects and also worked extensively on workforce development and job training initiatives.
Julie was project manager for IWPR’s first regionally-focused report, The Status of Women in the South, as well as several state reports. She has presented Status of Women research on numerous webinars, teleconferences, and to international visiting opinion leaders and scholars. She is a frequent media spokesperson and has been interviewed for NPR, The Guardian, The Christian Science Monitor, and HuffPost Politics Live.
Prior to joining IWPR in December 2014, Julie was a researcher at the Center for Social Science Research at George Mason University. She has also worked at the Children’s Law Center and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Julie has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in sociology from George Mason University.
Emma Williams-Baron was a Policy and Data Analyst at IWPR and Assistant Editor for the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, focusing on job quality, pay equity across the life course, work-life policy, and intersectional analysis. She began at IWPR as a Mariam K. Chamberlain Fellow in 2015.
Previously, she was a research assistant investigating gendered violence with Dr. Alexandra Hrycak, and a legislative intern at the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women.
As an undergraduate student, Emma presented a senior thesis titled Girls and Boys Who Work: Effects of Gendered Adolescent Work Experiences on Career, Education, Family, and Work-Life Balance Aspirations and Expectations. Since joining IWPR, Emma has given several presentations at national and international conference including sharing findings from her study of youth work experience and attitudes toward career and family at the 2016 Work and Family Researchers Network Conference and presenting conclusions from her work with Dr. Hrycak at the 2016 Association for the Study of Nationalities 21st Annual World Convention.
Emma is a 2015 graduate of Reed College with a B.A. in sociology.
