Do more to attract, retain college-educated women

Wichita won’t reach its full potential if women aren’t reaching theirs. So it is concerning that Wichita trails its peer cities in college-educated women.

Specifically, not as many college-educated women are coming to Wichita or staying here, and they aren’t making as much money as their peers.

That’s a problem – both for women and for the city’s future.

James Chung and Reach Advisors, a national research firm, used government microdata to compare Wichita to 33 other noncoastal metro areas with similar populations, The Eagle reported. Based on those comparisons, there should be about 4,000 more college-educated women in the Wichita workforce.

“There is something about the Wichita labor market that is not working the same way as other labor markets, and it’s constraining Wichita,” said Chung, who was hired by the Wichita Community Foundation to analyze Wichita and its economy.

If 4,000 more college-educated women were in the workforce, Wichita would be seeing about $176 million more production a year, Chung said.

Not only would their incomes boost the Wichita economy, these educated women would make it easier for Wichita companies to grow and expand.

Wichita does better with college-educated men in their 20s and early 30s, which are increasing at about the national average. But its population of college-educated women in that age group is growing significantly slower than the national rate – and about half the rate as Des Moines.

Another problem is that Wichita is losing professional women to other markets at a rate faster than other cities. More of these women leave Wichita beginning in their mid-30s – just as they are hitting their peak earning years.

Women in Wichita also earn less on average – which likely is one reason some aren’t coming and staying here. Wichita ranks in the bottom 20 percent of similar-sized cities for wage equality, according to Chung’s research.

Some of the disparities may be attributed to Wichita’s heavy concentration of manufacturing jobs, which tend to attract more male employees, including male engineers. But Wichita’s wage gap is worse than Cedar Rapids, which has an even greater dependence on manufacturing.

There are other factors that can affect a city’s appeal to college-educated women. Is the city welcoming and open minded? Are there opportunities for women to advance and assume leadership roles, both in business and the community? Are women mentored? Are there family friendly work policies? Does the city value and support public education and the arts?

These are things Wichita can change and improve.

As Chung noted, it’s in Wichita’s self-interest to provide a better and fairer environment for women. But more important, it is the right thing to do.

This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 5:04 AM with the headline "Do more to attract, retain college-educated women."