Help Us by Filling Out a Survey on the Perceptions and Attitudes About Being a Woman in Trail Building
Data is important. Every day, we make data-driven decisions. We also use it more than we realize in trail building. Collecting and analyzing data has been critically important here at Trail Builder Magazine. I believe that is one characteristic that separates us from other mountain biking magazines. Yes, we love and want to share stories about bikes and trails. At the same time, trail building is a maturing industry. It’s time for more data collection. This time, it’s about perceptions and attitudes about being a woman in trail building.
In Volume 1, Issue 1, I wrote an article called “How to Make Trail Building More Welcoming for Women” (We’re currently giving it away as a free download). It was based on a series of in-depth interviews I conducted with women who are volunteer trail builders here in the Portland area. In the process, I recorded the interviews, went back and transcribed them into writing, and lastly, I coded key quotes into themes. It was a wealth of information that I still draw from today.
Earlier in the fall, I utilized a survey tool to collect data for our Trail Builder Mag User Survey. Again, key information was collected that was informative in understanding who reads and follows Trail Builder Magazine. This new survey on the perceptions and attitudes about being a woman in trail building is a more general data collection instrument (compared to the in-depth interviews). There are 25 questions to answer. Some questions involve multiple choice, others are short-answer, and others include ranking responses. It should take around 20 minutes.
This study aims to survey women to uncover their perceptions and attitudes about being a woman in the trail-building industry. Also, explore the obstacles or barriers faced by women in trail building. Next, this study will examine how women-only events have helped or changed perceptions of women entering mountain biking and trail building. No personally identifiable information will be collected. We expect a total of about 100 people to participate.
Thank you in advance for participating. I couldn’t do this without you. Click the button below to begin the survey.
Words: Sean Benesh Photos: Sean Benesh
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Benesh
Sean is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Trail Builder Mag. He is also the Communications Director for the Northwest Trail Alliance in Portland, Oregon. While in grad school, he worked as a mountain biking guide in Southern Arizona. Sean also spends time in the classroom as a digital media instructor at Warner Pacific University.
