News & Events

Los Angeles / March 5, 2013 — On Thursday, March 21, Mount St. Mary’s College will release its 2013 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California™, a comprehensive compilation of the most recent research on the state’s women and girls. Among the Report’s findings: California women remain underrepresented in science and math careers, in the media, and in political and business leadership; a wage gap between men and women persists in nearly all state-reported occupations; and California’s women and girls are more likely to experience poverty and violence than females elsewhere in the United States. The Report’s tracking of long-term trends also reveal that too many gender gaps that existed a decade ago remain largely unchanged today.   

During a free, public event on March 21, the College will reveal and discuss discoveries from a dozen key areas affecting the lives of California’s 18.9 million women and girls. Geena Davis, Academy Award®-winning actress and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, will speak. And top women leaders in business, education, healthcare and public policy will discuss why stubborn gender gaps continue to exist — and what measures can be taken to shrink them.  

“This groundbreaking report has been instrumental to the work of the Commission,” says Davis, who serves as chair of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. “It is an invaluable tool for educators, legislators and advocates working to improve the lives of women and girls. We are proud to partner once again with Mount St. Mary’s College to share the latest findings from the 2013 Report.”

The full 2013 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California™ will be posted on Mount St. Mary’s website on March 21. Learn more about the Report’s March 21 public release at: http://statusofwomen.msmc.la.edu.

“As a college for women of the 21st century, we have an inherent interest in the forces that shape women’s lives,” says Mount St. Mary’s President Ann McElaney-Johnson. “Despite some high-profile advances, this Report shows that striking gender gaps still exist, particularly among women of color.”

In creating the 2013 Report, a Mount St. Mary’s team of academics identified the largest gender-based gaps, highlighted statistics that have changed the most since last year’s Report, and issued a call to action. There is both progress to cheer and progress to be made.

Among the headlines from this year’s Report:

• EDUCATION: Women and girls remain vastly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. In college, fewer women than men are majoring in STEM disciplines that can lead to higher-paying jobs.
• EMPLOYMENT: The pay gap between working women and men in California is real. And it extends across almost all occupations reporting in the state. The sharpest discrepancies can be found in health- and business-related fields, where men in the same positions earn an average of $20,000-plus more than women.
• LEADERSHIP: More women in national leadership positions; fewer women in California leadership. Fewer women are serving in state- and local-level political positions in 2013 in California. In the business world, only 3 percent of the state’s Fortune 400 public companies have a female CEO.
• POVERTY: Eighteen percent of all California women and girls live in poverty. More than half are Latinos. Of all women living in poverty in California, only 12 percent have a college degree.
• VIOLENCE: In California, more than two out of every five women and girls have been victims of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Unacceptable by itself, that rate is also 8 percent higher than the national average.
• MEDIA: In a media-rich state, the role of women in media remains far too limited. Women comprise only a third of all news media staff. In the film industry, women hold only 18 percent of behind-the-scenes occupations.

The Report’s public release on March 21 will include more info that support the findings above — as well as facts and figures on a half-dozen other key issues affecting California’s females: physical health, mental health, technology, military service, incarceration and statewide demographics.

“As we mentor and prepare the next generation of leaders,” says McElaney-Johnson, “we must empower them to fill in these gaps, and give them the tools they need to think deeply and critically, to collaborate with people from a diversity of backgrounds, and to be fearless in the face of change.”

For complete details, and to RSVP for the March 21 public release of the 2013 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California™, visit: http://statusofwomen.msmc.la.edu.

About Mount St. Mary’s College
Founded in 1925, Mount St. Mary’s College is a Catholic, liberal arts college offering undergraduate education for women, as well as innovative programs for professional men and women on two historic campuses in Los Angeles. The mission of Mount St. Mary’s College is to provide a superior education enhanced by an emphasis on building leadership skills and fostering a spirit to serve others. For more information, go to www.msmc.la.edu or call 310.954.4000.

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