The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County embarked on a journey to better understand the challenges and needs of women and girls in Howard County as part of our 20th anniversary year in 2022 through our new State of Women and Girls in Howard County, a baseline compilation of data and a resource about women from statistics published by a range of federal, state, and county agencies as well as public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
Our goal in developing this was two-fold:
Having gathered information from government, field, and research experts and identified key issue areas impacting women and girls in Howard County, we believe the Women's Giving Circle of Howard County is now well positioned to learn from our past grantmaking and enhance our future grantmaking to better support women and girls in our community. And, we hope that others in the community will utilize this baseline data to enhance support for women and girls as well.
Learn how we utilized this data to help direct some of our grants this past year.
Our goal in developing this was two-fold:
- To gather existing data and develop a compilation of baseline information through a gender lens that identifies key issue areas that impact women and girls in Howard County in order to inform our past, current and future grantmaking.
- To provide to other Howard County funders, nonprofit partner organizations, government agencies, and the community for use in determining funding, supporting, and implementing programs and developing legislation to address the needs of women and girls in our county.
Having gathered information from government, field, and research experts and identified key issue areas impacting women and girls in Howard County, we believe the Women's Giving Circle of Howard County is now well positioned to learn from our past grantmaking and enhance our future grantmaking to better support women and girls in our community. And, we hope that others in the community will utilize this baseline data to enhance support for women and girls as well.
Learn how we utilized this data to help direct some of our grants this past year.
Highlights
The State of Women and Girls in Howard County finds that, although several “glass ceilings” for women have been shattered in the country, state, and county, many disparities remain. Find highlights here.
The State of Women and Girls in Howard County finds that, although several “glass ceilings” for women have been shattered in the country, state, and county, many disparities remain. Find highlights here.
Considerations and Opportunities
- We found that different agencies and organizations collect information by using different gender/race/ethnicity categories so consequently some of the information in this report reflect these differences.
- We have an opportunity to identify and close gaps in gender data in Howard County. It would be helpful to gather additional data on women and girls in Howard County to address needs in a more targeted manner. For example, capturing the two realities of Howard County by performing qualitative analysis since data is limited for women and girls in poverty is essential. Studying issues facing women and girls in poverty qualitatively will help to identify data gaps. By gaining these valuable insights, our community will be better positioned to monitor and close gender-based gaps. It is also critical to examine data on gender by race. Pinpointing inequities based on race and ethnicity data will help us to create a more inclusive and tolerant community.
- Our hope is that The State of Women and Girls in Howard County is a catalyst for a continued and/or beginning focus on data collection by gender/race/ethnicity among government agencies, nonprofit organizations and others so we can collectively have a better understanding on how to best serve women and girls in our community.
- And, we hope that other giving circles and counties in Maryland may see an opportunity to utilize the important data from the 2021 Maryland Women: A Status Report and compile baseline information on the status of women and girls per county throughout the state.
Research and Methodology
The State of Women and Girls in Howard County is a baseline compilation of data and a resource about women from statistics published by a range of federal, state, and county agencies as well as public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
In particular, we are pleased to leverage and utilize information from the recently released Maryland Women: A Status Report. In 2016, the Maryland Commission for Women launched the "Voices of Maryland Women Listening Tour". By traveling more than 3,000 miles across the state over a two-year period, the Commission conducted 19 public forums where women shared their everyday challenges and consolidated their findings in a publication titled, Maryland Women: A Status Report. The concerns raised by women across Maryland were presented in six categories by the Maryland Commission.
In The State of Women and Girls in Howard County, the WGC presents information on the state of women and girls in Howard County in the same six categories in order to remain consistent with the state’s analysis. The six categories are as follows:
Analyzing existing data on women and girls enables us to study critical areas highlighting gender gaps. Although data are not available on every relevant issue and the years for which information is accessible often vary, this approach allowed us to gather information in an efficient manner. We conducted two dozen individual interviews to:
This baseline compilation highlights data by gender and race when available. Different agencies and organizations collect information by using different race/ethnicity categories so consequently the information in this report reflect these differences.
Further research is needed, especially with regard to how these disparities may have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic to more fully understand the challenges women face as society continues to try and recover and the WGC plans to update this baseline data with new information as it becomes available.
We invite the community to provide us with data that may be missing or updated.
The State of Women and Girls in Howard County is a baseline compilation of data and a resource about women from statistics published by a range of federal, state, and county agencies as well as public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
In particular, we are pleased to leverage and utilize information from the recently released Maryland Women: A Status Report. In 2016, the Maryland Commission for Women launched the "Voices of Maryland Women Listening Tour". By traveling more than 3,000 miles across the state over a two-year period, the Commission conducted 19 public forums where women shared their everyday challenges and consolidated their findings in a publication titled, Maryland Women: A Status Report. The concerns raised by women across Maryland were presented in six categories by the Maryland Commission.
In The State of Women and Girls in Howard County, the WGC presents information on the state of women and girls in Howard County in the same six categories in order to remain consistent with the state’s analysis. The six categories are as follows:
- Demographics and Diversity
- Work and the Economy
- Education and Educators
- Health and Well-Being
- Safety and Justice
- Leadership and Political Participation
Analyzing existing data on women and girls enables us to study critical areas highlighting gender gaps. Although data are not available on every relevant issue and the years for which information is accessible often vary, this approach allowed us to gather information in an efficient manner. We conducted two dozen individual interviews to:
- Gather information from field and research experts
- Elevate voices of women by sharing their stories
- Identify key issues impacting women and girls in Howard County
This baseline compilation highlights data by gender and race when available. Different agencies and organizations collect information by using different race/ethnicity categories so consequently the information in this report reflect these differences.
Further research is needed, especially with regard to how these disparities may have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic to more fully understand the challenges women face as society continues to try and recover and the WGC plans to update this baseline data with new information as it becomes available.
We invite the community to provide us with data that may be missing or updated.
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Local
The overall population in Howard County is 325,690 and females make up 51.10%, or 166,427.
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Statewide
The overall population in Maryland is 5,976,407 and females make up 51.6%, or 3,079,989.
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National
The overall population in the United States is 332,403,650 and females make up 50.8%, or 170,080,000.
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Global
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"We are honored to have developed this data-driven compilation of information in order to better understand the challenges and needs of women and girls in our community so we can further inform our grantmaking." - Jennifer Woods, WGC Advisory Board Chair
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