Research

Using data to drive change

Our research provides a strong foundation for our other two impact pillars, grantmaking and advocacy. It uncovers the opportunities for investment that are most urgent to create progress for women and girls. It also highlights the policies that would help women thrive, and we use the findings to drive change with local policy makers. We also partner with other advocacy organizations who use our research to support their critical efforts.

As part of our values, we provide our original research to the public for free to drive progress in the areas most important for women and girls.

uncovering the data about what central ohio women need to thrive

The Women’s Fund’s most recent research report, Making Women Wealthy and Free, outlines what over 3,000 women shared about their experiences with building wealth in Central Ohio. The report is a roadmap for what our community can do to address the barriers that prevent women from building wealth and having the freedom to make their own decisions about their lives.

download the summary

Note: You can use the full screen symbol in the bottom right corner below to make the report bigger and flip through the pages! Or you can click here to view it fullscreen.

Our History of Research-Driven Change

To stay on the cutting edge of the gender equity movement, we’re continually investigating issues that aren’t yet talked about in the mainstream. Throughout our first 20 years, we released several major reports that each played a critical role in shaping the narrative around gender equity in Central Ohio.

Count on Her

In 2004, we released Count on Her, the first gender-specific study conducted in Central Ohio. This report was made public to help inform policy making and local philanthropy and to spur more research about women. It also solidified economic self-sufficiency as an investment priority, which has helped guide our grantmaking strategy throughout the years.

OneGirl

In 2009, along with several partners, we launched the One Girl Initiative, a research collaborative that brought attention to the power and potential of girls. As part of the initiative, we released the groundbreaking One Girl research report. We also funded the One Girl collaborative partners, including Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland, the Interprofessional Commission of Ohio, Ruling our eXperiences (ROX), the Mentoring Center, and the YWCA of Columbus.

Womenomics

In 2013, we released Womenomics, an investigation into the specific economic barriers that many women faced—and still face—in Central Ohio. This research emphasized the need to invest in wealth accelerators for women like access to childcare and transportation. It also informed the strategy of other community partners such as the Columbus Women’s Commission.

The Pervasive Power of Gender Norms

In 2016, we released The Pervasive Power of Gender Norms, a groundbreaking local study uncovering root causes of gender inequality. The research revealed that over 50% of Columbus respondents to the Harvard Implicit Association Test had a strong to moderate association with men to career and women to family. We learned that gender norms were at the very core of gender inequity. In response, we updated our grant application to ask applicants how they disrupt rigid gender norms. We also launched Gender By Us, our proprietary gender bias training tool.

Spark Reports Series

In 2018, we launched a series of Spark Reports to provide the community with easy access to data about three priority areas: childcare and the benefits cliff, the wage gap, and access to contraception and medically accurate sex education. This series helped us better understand how these priority areas impact a woman’s ability to achieve economic security and remain areas of high priority in our work today.