Research: Status of Women & Girls in Minnesota

At the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, we aim to make racism, sexism, and poverty history. To this end, we conduct ongoing research to quantify and analyze barriers to gender and racial equity for women, girls, and gender-expansive people in Minnesota.

Using a Unique Approach to Research

Launched in 2009, Status of Women & Girls in Minnesota is an ongoing collaborative research project of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and the Center on Women, Gender, and Public Policy (CWGPP) of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Periodically, the CWGPP gathers and
analyzes data specific to Minnesota women and girls in economics, safety, health, and leadership to inform Women’s Foundation of Minnesota priorities. The Status research and community input informs the Foundation’s annual grantmaking and policy agenda, and identifies new areas where research is needed.

The project represents a unique approach to research by using a gender-race-place-equity lens. The data included comes from original analysis by the CWGPP of publicly available datasets (American Community Survey, Minnesota Student Survey, and others) and from published reports produced by government agencies and nonprofits.

Through the research, a baseline is provided for measuring where to apply needed interventions and benchmark the continued progress on the road to economic, political and social equity for women, girls, and gender-expansive people in Minnesota.