You don’t have to dig deep to see that the energy sector has a distinct gender diversity problem. Representing barely a fifth of workers in the oil and gas industry, women account for a significantly smaller share of the workforce than they do in almost every other sector. In fact, figures from the World Economic Forum indicate a measly 10-15% of senior positions in the sector are occupied by women. If we are to develop innovative solutions to tackle key challenges and successfully transition to clean energy, we can’t wait any longer to address the persistent gender imbalance in the industry.

 

Closing the gap for diversity in energy

 

Despite recent efforts to encourage and promote female participation, a look into the energy sector’s gender pay gap results reveals a long road ahead in reaching equality. Figures from Payscale found that the energy sector in the US has a controlled pay gap (meaning men and women in similar circumstances working very similar jobs) of -7.4% for women – a number far higher than any other industry.

Further to this, the median pay for a male worker in the energy sector is $75,800, while the controlled median female wage is only $70,200. When controlled factors such as age, experience or family circumstances are set aside, the female median pay comes out significantly lower at $58,500. Of course, it’s easy to argue that a lack of experience in the sector is the primary reason for disparity between male and female salaries – however, while women did get a late start into the energy and utilities industry, this fact will never change; nor can we change the past.

In an ideal world, salaries would be awarded on merit, rather than diversity quotas, but at this point, we simply cannot afford to use this excuse to justify the drastic gender wage gap between men and women working in the same jobs.

Fixing the leadership pipeline for diversity in energy

 

Of course, we must be very careful when using the phrase “working in the same jobs”, because we know that men take up the lion’s share of executive roles in the energy sector. With women only making up 10-15% of senior positions in the field of oil and gas, it’s clear to see that the industry has a serious pipeline issue.

Unfortunately, this creates a catch-22 situation, in which women feel discouraged to strive for senior positions, due to the lack of influential female leaders in their particular company.

In turn, the cultural and structural barriers that still prevent women from aspiring to leadership roles impacts the efforts and progress of the industry as a whole.

In 2015, world leaders committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): this included SDG 5, the aim of which is to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.” However, achieving complete gender equality in the energy sector relies on the successful implementation of the 3Es: equal opportunity, equal pay and equal leadership. Naturally, meeting this target in just over 10 years will take unwavering commitment from governments, industry leaders and other energy stakeholders to ensure the necessary actions are taken in accelerating the participation of women in oil, gas and most importantly, the clean energy sector.