Cutting Edge Research: Data to Effect Change
AAUW nationally sponsors a wide variety of research reports to provide analysis, data, and accurate information about issues that are important to women and girls. Past reports include:
The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (2021 update)
During the pandemic, countless women left the workforce completely to deal with child care, homeschooling and other domestic responsibilities. Women of color, low-wage workers and mothers lost jobs at considerably higher rates than other groups. In truth, the pandemic has been an economic disaster for women.
Systemic Racism and the Gender Pay Gap (2021)
Systemic racism – decades of discriminatory employment practices, intentionally inadequate legal protections and persistent racial stereotypes — has contributed to a pay gap that remains far wider for women of color than for white women.
The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (2020 update)
Read specifically about the impact of COVID on women’s economic security.
Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans (2020 update)
Women and Student Loans in the time of COVID.
Limiting Our Livelihoods: The Cumulative Impact of Sexual Harassment on Women’s Careers (2019)
With the emergence of the #MeToo movement, there has been a renewed public, cultural and academic focus on workplace harassment. We investigate the compounding impact of sexual harassment on women’s economic security across their lifespan and career trajectories.
The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (updated Fall 2018)
Review key facts about the gender pay gap in the US, including links to additional resources to help you effectively advocate for pay equity.
Broken Ladders: Barriers to Women’s Representation in Nonprofit Leadership (2018)
We take a close look at the broken ladders to advancement that women face even in sectors where they make up the majority of workers.
La Pura Verdad (2017)
La Pura Verdad informe explica la brecha salarial en los Estados Unidos; cómo afecta las mujeres de todas las edades, razas, y de todos los niveles educativos; y qué puede hacer para cerrarla.
Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans (2017)
The majority of student loans are made to women and, with their lower average pay, it takes longer to get out of debt after college.
Barriers and Bias: The Status of Women in Leadership (2016)
This report examines why men still vastly outnumber women in leadership positions.
Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing (Winter 2015)
Women in Community Colleges: Access to Success (2013)
This report recommends policies and practices to help women succeed in community colleges.
Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation (2012)
Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School (2011)
Sexual harassment in our nation’s schools, focused on grades 7-12
Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (2010)
An in-depth profile of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers that continue to block women’s participation and progress in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Where the Girls Are: The Facts about Gender Equity in Education (2008)
Behind the Pay Gap (2007)
Just one year out of college, women already earn less than their male colleagues.