"Somehow, there's a ceiling preventing them from moving up," Xiao said. "We don't have as many corporations headquartered in Salt Lake as we'd like. So maybe for people to continue to move up in their careers, it's hard to find the positions, or to find the pay that matches their qualifications.

"Studies have shown that the Salt Lake International Airport has more female travelers than male. One reason, we think, is that there are more women-owned businesses conducting their business out-of-state."

Specific fixes are hard to pinpoint. Quick ones even harder. However, Reddy and others say there's evidence the ceiling may be cracking.

"Is the climate different? Not as much now as it was when I moved here in 1987," she said. "My jaw used to drop open at some of the things that were said to me by my bosses and by my co-workers. That's not to say that there isn't a lot of sexism in business everywhere, but I do think it is getting better across the country and in Utah. Utah still has a way to go to be really accepting of women in business, I think, but some great progress is being made."

Hemming agreed but said Utah still has a way to go.

"I'd still like to see more women on corporate boards," she said. "I'd like to see another woman governor. I'd like to see more women in decision-making positions in the Legislature and at civic and nonprofit organizations. I think we've made headway, but I don't think that we can be satisfied with where we are. We haven't hit the pinnacle yet. Not by a long shot."

Entrepreneurship could be part of the answer, according to Collins.

"In those places where women are being kept out of male-dominated board rooms, they're making a conscious decision to exercise their entrepreneurial (instincts)," she said. "They start their own board room. Then they become competitive, and then they really do get to a point where they have to be reckoned with."

Collins said she's seeing the sands begin to shift.

"We're seeing major institutions — financial, education and service organizations — focusing on encouraging young women," she said. "NAWBO is working with the University of Utah School of Business to try to develop programs where we can provide mentoring opportunities for women at the MBA level. We're planning seminars and networking activities designed to bring the business community into the higher learning community so we can actually develop the future entrepreneur while she is still young and getting her education. So she sees what the business community has to offer, so she can go on, in turn, to positively impact her community.

"There's a spirit among women that says, 'Recognize me for what I can contribute to this company, or I can leave and go out on my own, because I have a concept I know will work.'

"The fact is, we're here. I think the opportunities have been provided to us by the women who have come before us, and we're taking advantage of them."

---

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com