March 18, 2013 –The University of Utah presents its annual celebration of Women’s Week with activities from March 25-29. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Learning through Giving: Mentoring Young Women” Featuring a keynote address by University of Virginia Curry School of Education Professor Edith Lawrence. Her address will take place Thursday, March 28 from noon to1:00 p.m. at the U’s student Olpin Union building, Saltair Room.

Women in Utah face some of the steepest obstacles in the U.S.: high school drop-out rates for women that hover near the bottom third of the nation, a lower percentage of female college undergraduates than the national average, and a national ranking of 43rd in female representation in the state legislature. Also, the gendered wage gap in Utah is the third largest in the country.

During her keynote address, Lawrence will discuss how effective mentoring can ameliorate such societal inequities by drawing on years of work and research within her Young Women Leaders Program. Lawrence’s research focuses on investigating the effects of mentoring on early adolescent girls and on college women’s social and academic outcomes, including ways to improve mentoring experiences for both populations. In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of the Young Women Leaders Program, the group she founded and directs, her lab is involved in evaluating best practices in group and one-on-one youth mentoring and leadership development.

Additional Women’s Week events taking place at the University of Utah include a multimedia performance, a film screening, campus and community panel discussions, a mentoring dialogue and a community march. For more information visit www.diversity.utah.edu or call 801-581-4250.