Axios Salt Lake City

September 09, 2024
Hello and happy Monday! Weekends seem to fly by when they're filled with football.
- Today's weather: ⛅ Mostly sunny, with a small chance of thunderstorms and a high in the low 90s.
This newsletter is 856 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: Religious sexism in tech
A recent study concludes women who work in Utah's tech industry frequently miss out on career advancement due to gender norms that echo teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
State of play: Women here are often excluded from networking opportunities and consideration for promotion by male bosses, University of Chicago researcher Alyssa Calder Hulme concluded in her master's thesis, first reported by KUER.
The big picture: Women in Utah's tech industry make 76.2% of what their male counterparts do, according to a separate analysis by Design Rush, a hub for marketing agencies. That's nearly 10% worse than the national pay gap in tech.
- In a survey released this year by the Utah Women & Leadership Project, about 27% said "religious influence" was a challenge for women and girls in the state.
The intrigue: Hulme found Mormonism's influence in workplaces exacerbated women's exclusion — and not just due to its history of discouraging mothers from working outside the home.
- The faith's pattern of segregating members by gender from an early age and urging married men not to socialize with women made it difficult for employees to gain mentorship and build relationships necessary for advancement, she wrote.
2. 🗣️ What they're saying: Women in tech
For her study, Hulme interviewed 37 MBA-holding women and 57 of their coworkers, recruiters, teachers and classmates, focusing on employees at an unnamed "late-stage" startup in Utah with annual revenue over $1 billion.
What they're saying:
- "My boss ... makes it really, really clear that he is Mormon and believes women's proper place is to stay home once they have children. It's super awkward, too, because my team is pretty much all women." — An employee who unsuccessfully sought a promotion while pregnant
- "We all know that leadership really doesn't think women should be working at all, let alone mothers." — An employee who said business metrics are sometimes left unadjusted for maternity leave, to make women appear less productive than they actually are
- "They said they didn't want to take me away from my 'primary responsibility.' They did not even let me decide; they decided for me." — An employee who said she was excluded from meetings and emails by men who quoted the church's "Family Proclamation" on gender roles
3. Utah's mixed reaction to Canyonlands' creation
Canyonlands National Park turns 60 years old this week!
Yes, but: Not all Utahns were happy about its creation.
- This is Old News, our Monday hike to Utah's past.
What drove the news: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill establishing the park on Sept. 12, 1964.
Friction point: Industrial interests wanted to keep mining and grazing legal on the 257,640-acre tract of newly-protected land.
- Mining and drilling were especially desired after a geologist in 1962 declared that no other part of the state had greater mineral protection, citing deposits of oil, uranium and other spoils.
How it worked: U.S. Sen. Frank E. Moss (D-Utah), who proposed Canyonlands in the first place, tried to revise federal rules to allow mining and grazing in national parks. He also drafted the bill to allow some mining in the park boundaries, which he described as "not inviolate."
The big picture: As the National Park Service expanded to more sites, conservationists ran into increasing pushback against what Moss called a "purist" approach to park management
Zoom in: The prospect of mining in the parks wasn't popular, and Moss gave up on those provisions when they put the park's passage at risk.
What they said: "This compromise is a sham," said then-Gov. George D. Clyde.
4. Fry Sauce: Part of Jordan River Trail closes
🛍️ The West Valley City Council is set to decide the fate of the long-running Redwood swap meet and drive-in theater during a vote on Sept. 17. Home builders have long eyed the property. (FOX 13)
🚧 A portion of the Jordan River Trail has been temporarily closed for the duration of the Utah State Fair due to safety issues. (KUTV)
- "There has been a lot of drug activity in that vicinity," said the Jordan River Commission's executive director, according to KUTV. "And so both to clean up the area and to prevent any of that activity from happening while the state fair is going on."
🏢 The Utah National Guard plans to develop more than 24,000 acres of land into commercial developments. (KSL.com)
🏳️🌈 The Locker Room, a LGBTQ+ sports bar in Sugar House that opened last year, is believed to have closed. (Gastronomic)
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5. 🏓 More pickleball courts coming to SLC
Salt Lake City leaders unveiled eight new pickleball courts last week at Rosewood Park.
State of play: The new courts on the city's west side come as demand for the racket sport soars.
- The public utilities department replaced the park's old tennis courts as they worked on the city's sewer system that runs under the park.
- The plan moved forward after Rose Park residents "expressed a strong desire" pickleball, per the city.
What's next: As the colder weather approaches, Salt Lakers will soon have more opportunities to play indoors.
- Picklr, a network of indoor pickleball courts, is set to open its seventh Utah location in Salt Lake City on Sept. 14.
ICYMI: Where to play pickleball in Salt Lake City
Go with a buddy (or Kim!)
🍟 Kim is openly judgmental of local restaurants that offer fries, but not fry sauce.
🐦⬛ Erin is getting her scarecrow out already!
This newsletter was edited by Ross Terrell.
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