Forbes ranks University of Hawaiʻi system among nation’s best employers for women

The 10-campus University of Hawaiʻi System is ranked No. 17 in the U.S. education industry and No. 90 overall on the list of Forbes 2023 America’s Best Employers for Women, which was released on July 25.

According to Forbes, the ranking was created to help women identify companies that serve their needs and for companies to evaluate their own treatment of women in their workforce.

“This recognition reflects our commitment to an inclusive work environment for all of our employees and to recognizing excellence in leadership,” said David Lassner, University of Hawaiʻi president. “UH is bucking every national trend with seven women among the 13 officers of the university and seven of our 10 accredited campuses led by women.”

The list is primarily based on surveys of more than 60,000 workers with at least 1,000 employees. There are more than 8,300 companies in the U.S. with more than 1,000 employees, according to Statista, a business data website.

Approximately 40,000 women were asked to rate their company in areas such as working environment, salary and employee diversity, and then whether they would recommend their company to a friend or family member. According to Forbes, their answers were compared to those of 20,000 men to assess any significant differences in workplace perception.

Women were also asked to rate their employer based on factors such as pay equity, parental-leave policies, leadership training programs for women, representation of women in upper management and employer response to incidents of discrimination. Additional research was conducted into the presence of women in executive management or board positions. The 400 companies with the highest scores made the list.

University of Hawaiʻi also made the list of America’s Best Employers By State in 2022 by Forbes, ranking No. 9 in Hawaiʻi and No. 1 in the education sector.