Women Hold 30% of Utah Higher Ed Board Seats
A Utah State University research project finds women are underrepresented in the state's higher education leadership compared with national averages.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Women’s Issues
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The Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah State University released research showing women hold 30% of seats on Utah's 10-member board of higher education, below the 40% national average. The research also found women make up 18.8% of presidents across Utah's higher education landscape.
Why it matters
The gap in representation and pay for women leading Utah's colleges and universities shapes who makes decisions about students, faculty and budgets across the state. Comparing Utah's figures with 2021 data and national averages shows where the state's leadership pipeline has shifted.
Women hold 30% of seats on Utah's 10-member higher education board, compared with a 40% national average and 44.4% in 2021. Women presidents nationally earn 90% of what male presidents earn, and women leaders overall earn 94.0% of men's pay in higher education leadership.
The players
Utah State University
A public land-grant university in Logan, Utah, whose Utah Women and Leadership Project released the research.
College and University Professional Association for Human Resources
A national association that provides workforce data and resources for human resources professionals at colleges and universities.
The details
The Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah State University released its research on Thursday, drawing on data from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. The findings show women make up 30% of presidents at Utah's eight public degree-granting institutions, down from 50% in 2021.
Timeline
2021: Baseline year for Utah's higher education women leadership comparisons.
2026: Year of the national presidency and Utah board representation data.
Thursday, November 2026: Utah State University released the women leadership research.
Culture Shift
Utah's board representation sits 10 percentage points below the 40% national average reported in CUPA-HR workforce data. The gap is narrower in pay than in representation, with women presidents nationally earning 90% of what male presidents earn.
Students and faculty at Utah's public colleges are led by a board and presidents where women are underrepresented, which can influence policies on hiring, pay and campus programs. Readers following higher education governance can track board composition as seats turn over.
The takeaway
Representation on governing boards and in presidencies shapes the decisions colleges make, and the Utah figures show a gap that is narrower in pay than in board seats. Tracking these numbers over time reveals whether the leadership pipeline is changing.
Further reading
For more on the subject, see Women’s Issues coverage across Utah.
Source note: This article includes information reported by KSL.
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Should Utah colleges and universities work harder to put more women in top leadership roles?
