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The 12th edition of the Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California™, which is published annually by the Center for Advancement of Women at Mount Saint Mary’s University, was released on March 22.

Women leaders gathered to address the sold-out audience of more than 500 at the Skirball Cultural Center. If the pandemic era virtual meetings of the last few years had taught us anything, it’s that there is a large, interested audience beyond those who can make it to the event, so this year’s event was also live streamed on Facebook; the also enables people to view (or review) the proceedings at another time more convenient for them.

The session started off with a message from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “I want to recognize the efforts of the University and all of you for your collective work and passion in advancing gender equity in California,” she said. “Reports like this one are invaluable tools that allow leaders at the local, county and state levels to better understand how we are progressing and help us identify where we still have work to do. This data can inform policy decisions we can make that affect women throughout the state.”

Vice President Kamala Harris also sent a commemorating the University’s long-standing work toward gender equality and encouraging the continued pursuit through various levels of government.

Robin Owens, PhD, associate professor of religious studies and director of the Center for the Advancement of Women, welcomed the enthusiastic women and men who filled the room. Before inviting Mount President Ann McElaney-Johnson, PhD, to the podium, she spoke of her colleague’s accomplished career and well-known reputation as a thought leader in many areas, including gender equity. Owens then broke the news that most in the room were unaware of: just hours before the gathering, the previous evening, the French government bestowing President McElaney-Johnson the rank of chevalier (knight) within the esteemed Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Order of Academic Palms).

McElaney-Johnson took the stage to a standing ovation but immediately redirected attention to thanking those in attendance both live and virtual. She then commenced discussion of this year’s Report, “Advancing Equity: Leading With Meaning and Purpose,” which examines a wide range of issues from educational attainment and occupational disparities to earnings and wealth gaps, health and wellness, and work-life balance.

Highlights from the 2023 Report

Some key findings from this year’s research reveal that:

• Earnings are up…more so for some women than others. Median earnings of California women working full time increased 14% from 2019 to 2021. Earnings for women working part-time rose 9%. Those earnings, however, vary substantially by ethnicity: Median earnings for white women working fulltime in 2021 equaled $73,059; Latinas earned $40,524.
• Nationally, the estimated median wealth of White men is $83,440. That drops to $66,930 for White women and drops to $6,700 and $6,000 for Latina and Black women, respectively.
• Overall, 9% of California’s family households experience poverty. But for households headed by women, with no spouse present, the poverty rate more than doubles to 21%. (And it is 29% for women-headed households with children.)
• The flexibility to work remotely continues. In 2019, 1 in 14 women worked from home. In 2021, 1 in 3 worked remotely.
• Despite more people working from home, housework and childcare remain the mother’s domain. Even among families where the mother is employed, 77% say they have the responsibility for housework and 61% say they have the responsibility for childcare.

Owens and President McElaney-Johnson expressed hope that every woman attending the event or reading the Report shares it with her network. The more women — and men who focus on supporting us — are armed with the Report’s findings, the more we can work together to affect positive changes for ourselves, our families and society as a whole.

California’s latest legislation affecting women and girls

Holly Martinez, executive director of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, shared some interesting facts about the commission and data that its work had uncovered. Some items of note:

• The state’s commission was formed in 1965 – and was comprised of all men. Women were left out of all the decisions that affected them.
• During the pandemic, women of color were the first to lose their jobs and the last to regain them. The system was not built for women to succeed.
• The poverty rate of women would drop by 40% if the wage gap didn’t exist.
• The government safety programs and pandemic aid temporarily reduced the child poverty rate by half.

“The work we did creating the California Blueprint for Women’s Pandemic Economic Recovery highlights how critical it is that gender parity be considered as a substantive element of the health of the state’s overall workforce and capacity for economic growth,” said Martinez.

Additional sessions included a live podcast, “Leadership Purpose With Dr. Robin” in which Owens spoke with author and CEO Mallika Chopra about achieving balance — or at least being satisfied with the state of your life as well as finding one’s purpose; a panel of changemakers shaping the city moderated by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, LA County Board of Supervisors and Mount legislator in residence in discussion with Va Lecia Adams Kellum, PhD, incoming CEO of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority; Johanna Burton, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art; President McElaney-Johnson; Maria S. Salinas, president and CEO, Los Angeles area chamber of commerce; and Renata Simril, president and CEO, LA84 Foundation; and last, but certainly not least, Joanna Bloor, author and potentialist, spoke on “Creating Your Call to Action” and taking charge of one’s future.

Mount Saint Mary’s extends its gratitude to the following sponsors of the event:

Champion: Gearys

Advocates: City National Bank; Guggenheim; Locke Lord; Manatt; Santa Monica/Westside Legacy Fund for Women and Girls; and Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Los Angeles Province.

Supporters: ILLiG Construction Company and Southern California Edison

FOR MORE INFORMATION

View a of the event

Read this year’s Report

Read newsroom coverage of additional sessions at the event

VIEW MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EVENT

interview with President Ann McElaney-Johnson

on small businesses and the Report

 new segment on the report, President McElaney-Johnson quoted

news segment

4 am broadcast day of the event

post event coverage