Advancing Women’s Representation and Leadership in the Energy Sector

Although they represent 48 per cent of the global labour force, women account for only 22 per cent of the conventional energy sector workforce. This percentage is even lower at management levels, where women make up less than 12 per cent of leaders, according to a recent IEA report. In the renewable energy sector, the numbers are more promising, with women representing 38 per cent of the workforce. Meanwhile, global investments in energy are estimated to reach approximately $2.8 trillion USD in 2023, $1.7 trillion of which will be going to clean energy. So, we have a population that is economically undervalued and under-represented, and an industry that is growing dramatically. There’s an opportunity here, and there are ways to seize it.

A History of Disenfranchisement

First, let’s look at the challenges. The benefits of diversity in any organization are well documented. Entities with gender-balanced leadership teams and workforces see consistently higher financial returns (as much as 19 percentage points) and lower earnings risk. Diversity also promotes innovation and resilience — both essential in the global drive for a clean energy transition. However, this empirical evidence has not translated into higher representation in the energy sector.

Due to a range of cultural and organizational barriers, women continue to be under-represented in the sector across developed and developing economies, especially as technical experts and leaders. In 2020, the World Bank studied the energy sectors of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia and found that women make up only 21 per cent of the organizations surveyed and that women filled only 15 per cent of technical roles. In the U.S. energy industry, women represent only 25 percent of the workforce, versus 47 percent of the overall American labor force.

Influenced by long-standing cultural and social norms, many societies have a prevailing view that energy is a male domain. This discourages many women from pursuing careers in the sector, especially as technical experts. These stereotypes are perpetuated early when girls make decisions on what studies to pursue. Even if they perform similarly or better than boys in science and math at the middle/junior and high school levels, they are often either encouraged or decide on their own to pursue “non-technical” fields, resulting in a smaller pipeline of female STEM graduates. This phenomenon seems to happen in both developed and developing countries. According to the World Bank gender portal, the percentage of women who graduated with a STEM degree in Mongolia in 2018 was 34 per cent; in Australia, this figure was 32 per cent.

Women who do enter the sector face challenges once they get there. They deal with an institutional culture in which gender bias — manifested in both subtle and overt ways — stands in the way of advancement. They are often not given the same access to education and training, networks, mentoring, and sponsoring opportunities that include equity as a metric in measuring senior leaders’ performance) is critical to success. USAID’s Engendering Industries Program strengthens organizations in male-dominated industries and works expressly to address many of these issues. To date, they have partnered with over 100 organizations in 41 countries and facilitated the promotion of 3,900 women into leadership and technical positions.

Create networking and mentoring opportunities. Being part of a network where women can share experiences, hear advice from peers and experts, and establish contacts that could open up employment and advancement opportunities is known to help. Having mentors who can provide trusted advice on how to navigate an organization or a broader sector is another tried and tested way to help women navigate any industry. In the energy sector, the Global Women’s Network for Energy Transition (GWNET) supports women in energy through networking training and mentoring on a global scale. Solar Energy International provides networking and mentoring opportunities and facilitates employer/job connections. Many other networks are specific to certain geographies, such as the South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE), or sub-sectors in energy such as Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE). Some organizations establish mentorship programs with a male allyship theme where senior male employees serve as mentors to junior female employees or reverse mentorship programs where a junior employee might teach a senior employee new digital skills.

Integrate the gender perspective in energy policy and programming and generate data to monitor progress. To ensure that women are part of the solution and utilize their knowledge, it is essential for gender to be integrated into energy policy and throughout all stages of the energy project cycle, from design to implementation and monitoring. Many countries and regions have adopted policies or integrated gender clauses focused on mainstreaming gender in energy access. For example, Kenya’s National Energy Policy defines access to clean and reliable energy services as an essential prerequisite to human development — contributing, among other things, to economic activity, income generation, poverty alleviation, health, education, gender equality, and environmental safety. The policy explicitly states that gender inclusiveness must be incorporated in all government appointments pertaining to energy, and mandates the inclusion of considerations for gender, youth, and persons with special needs issues in energy policy formulation, planning, production, distribution, and use.

As the world accelerates the shift to clean energy and decarbonization, women and girls must be fully engaged in the sector as decision-makers and agents of change for the transition to be just, equitable, and sustainable.

(Originally published as a blog through Abt Global).