| Women's Voices - Minnesota
What are the public policy issues of greatest concern
to Minnesota women? On which issues is there broad consensus among women?
How do Minnesota women differ from each other and from men? In 1996-97,
center staff members Cynthia Myntti, senior fellow and co-director,
and Clare Gravon, associate director, designed and implemented the Women's
Voices-Minnesota research project. By means of discussion groups and
a statewide random telephone survey, they asked Minnesota women to reflect
on their daily lives and to identify the issues of most pressing concern
to them. The research design went considerably beyond standard opinion
polling techniques by asking 500 women, and a comparison group of 100
men, to describe solutions as well as problems, and to identify individuals
and institutions that would be necessary to solve problems.
The findings indicate that Minnesota women's concerns - and men's as
well - cluster around crime and safety, economic security, and balancing
work and family. Minnesota women differ from each other in the intensity
of their concerns. For example, women in rural areas are most concerned
about economic development while women in the suburbs are most concerned
about crime and safety.
One of the striking findings of the research is the degree to which women
describe the interrelatedness of their concerns. For many women, a good
paying job is only the first step toward economic self-sufficiency. Women
in many different circumstances described the critical importance of health
care, family friendly work policies, good quality, affordable child care,
and retirement programs.
Center staff members worked in close consultation with a community advisory
group on the research design and analysis. The University's Minnesota
Center for Survey Research carried out seven formal focus groups, the
statewide telephone survey, and the data analysis. An additional thirteen
discussion groups were conducted around the state with the in-kind support
of the Minnesota Extension Service and the project's community advisory
group.
Funding for the research was provided by the Otto Bremer Foundation,
the General Mills Foundation, the Minnesota Extension Service, and the
Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. The Humphrey School and the
Minnesota Extension Service provided in-kind support as well. The Minnesota
Women's Fund underwrote production and distribution of the final report
in collaboration with the Minnesota Women's Consortium.
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