'Lonely and isolated': New USU report highlights sentiments of Utah's women of color

LOGAN — Being a woman of color in Utah can be fraught with challenges.

A new report by the Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah State University finds that a cross-section of women from a mix of races and ethnicities grapple with feelings of isolation and feeling invisible in their daily interactions. The report, "Belonging in Utah: Findings from Community Conversations with Women of Color," was based on a series of focus group conversations with Latina, Native American, Black, Pacific Islander, Asian and Middle Eastern women.

"From workplaces to classrooms to church congregations, participants reflected feeling lonely and isolated because they were surrounded by people whose appearances, customs and ways of interacting amplified differences, primarily in negative and harmful ways," reads the report. What's more, the report — issued on Nov. 20 — notes that many feel overlooked at times, particularly on the job or at school.

Still, while they may face challenges, the women taking part in the focus group discussions also exhibited a measure of resilience and strength, said Kolene Anderson, one of the authors of the report. She hopes "Belonging in Utah" amplifies the voices of participants and serves to inform the public and policymakers about the outlook and perspectives of the state's women of color.

The women have to make deliberate efforts to reach out and build a sense of belonging, Anderson said, which can be exhausting.

"Yet at the same time, I was so inspired by the examples and sort of tireless approach that many of the women expressed, you know: 'We've got to keep at it, we've got to keep at it.' I just really admired that," she said.

The aim of the Utah Women and Leadership Project is to bolster the impact women and girls have in the state. The new report, more specifically, is meant to highlight the experiences of women of color to foster more understanding of the varied groups and empower them. The facilitators and researchers met with 85 women in seven separate meetings, posing the same set of questions related to their sense of feeling welcome and connected in their communities.

"We believe that when the unique challenges highlighted by each group are addressed and when the collective feelings of isolation and invisibility are mitigated, Utah will be a truly welcoming place where all individuals can thrive, contributing their full, diverse talents to the collective well-being of our state," reads the report's conclusion.

"The strength, resilience and intentionality demonstrated by the women in these focus groups is a testament to the community that can be built when we choose to listen, learn and act."

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While feelings of isolation and being invisible seemed to cut across the varied ethnic and racial groups surveyed, along with a sense that extra effort is required to build a community, there were also recurring themes specific to individual groups.

Black women taking part spoke in particular of the fear they sometimes felt and the overt racism they sometimes faced.

"There was a very marked experience with feeling afraid for not only emotional and psychological safety, but literally, physical safety," Anderson said.

Latina women reported "isolation, subtle and overt exclusion and pressure to 'represent' while managing imposter syndrome," reads a report summary. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander participants lamented the "cultural stereotyping" they face and "barriers to civic and professional recognition."

Native American women, Anderson said, expressed a deep connection with the land and pronounced consternation with things like roadside littering and defacing of petroglyphs and Native sacred spaces.

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