Research...

Dreams and Sorrows: Young Women in New Mexico

* Full Report available in our Resource Library *

Summary

The NM Commission on the Status of Women patterned their Year of the NM Girl Needs Assessment Survey after the Girls' Best Friend Foundation survey in Illinois.  Our survey was given at random during the NM State Fair as well as given to schools in Hobbs, Deming, Albuquerque, Gallup, and Shiprock.  Over 1200 girls (1209) between the ages of 13 and 18 took part in the survey. 

A second survey, the Year of the NM Girls Behavioral Inventory Survey, was given to girls who attended the Year of the NM Girl: Believe in Me conference.  These girls ranged in age from 13 to 18, representing a variety of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. 

This survey is not a scientific survey.  However, the Commission feels that information gathered is an honest representation of what the girls of New Mexico are experiencing as they grow up.

Our primary goal from the beginning was to allow the girls of New Mexico a voice in the creation of the conference and also get to the heartbeat of what it is like to be a girl growing up in our state.  The conference topics were designed around the girls' answers to "What are the top three pressing issues for girls?"  As you will see, pregnancy, sex and drugs were on their minds.

Additionally we did the survey on the premise that although there were any factors that separated who girls were from other girls around the state, that underneath the exterior they all had similar issues and concerns, dreams and goals.  The Needs Assessment survey provied our premise.  Although we looked at the differences between race and geography, the survey shows that New Mexico girls are concerned and yet hopeful about their futures.

The much more intimate look at girls - the Year of the NM Girl Behavioral Inventory Survey - shows insight into the behaviors of the teenage girls of our state.  The two surveys complemented one another as the issues most identified in the Needs Assessment survey mirrored themselves in the Behaviorial Survey.

It is the Commission's hope that agencies and organizations will take this information into account when programming, creating programs, and talking to girls about their lives.  Most importantly, it is the Commission's hope that agencies, parents, schools, etc. can see the girls of our state have a lot to say about the quality of their lives.  It is by listening that we can start to address some of the growing concerns and helping them achieve their dreams.