The number of Utah women in CEO or corporate board positions is the 3rd lowest in the nation. The findings released Wednesday are from a Utah Valley University study titled “The Status of Women Leaders in Utah Business.” The report shows of the 228 companies surveyed, only 4.8 percent (11) have female chief executive officers compared to 95.2 percent (217) male CEO’s. That’s nearly 10 percent lower than national figures for women in business. Management Professor Susan Madsen at UVU and her research assistants published the report. Madsen is also the Woodbury Professor of Leadership and Ethics there. She says women really need help joining networks so they have people to talk to and run their ideas by.
“I’ve found within in the state of Utah that many women just have no idea how amazing they are. They just are gifted and they have no idea. They don’t understand their strengths and therefore they don’t have those goals. So I would definitely recommend that,” says Madsen.
The study was the final one in a four-part series looking at Utah women leaders in politics, non-profits, education, and business. Madsen was not surprised to learn that women leaders of non-profits in the state were on par with the rest of the nation but was surprised how far behind they were in business leadership positions.
