Diversity, inclusion and women in energy industry (women energy industry)
Being quite a manual and laborious work and initially thought to be a “man only” profession, women opt to turn away from the oil and gas industry. Majority of the female population prefer jobs in the finance or health and social work sector. Others simply reject the idea of working in this field because of the lack of facilities for women employees. If several aspiring women did take the oil and gas route, most of them choose to work in the offices rather than getting their hands dirty.
This gender imbalance in the oil and gas industry is both alarming and highly non-profitable. Most refiners did not realize this until the crude price crash in the market some years ago. Because of the sudden change of the game, the firms thought of changing their business models as well: to accommodate more women into the workforce and to inspire them to stay by adding extra incentives and facilities that were missing before. Several refiners are even promoting women to executive positions and boosting women leadership to prevail in the organization.
Major refiners like the US-based Exxon Mobil Corp encourages women to take up STEM studies and afterward, employ and use their skills to boost the company’s performance. Meanwhile, Asian refiners such as Showa Shell recently welcomed more women than men into their workforce. Both are good signs that the barriers hindering gender diversity in the industry are now gradually demolished.
Although the upward growth of the women population in the field is still hampered by gender discrimination, firms are taking initiative to educate their men on the major advantages of having a diversified workforce. There are still more challenges facing this gender diversity movement, but little by little, the industry is slowly opening its doors for more women laborers and women leaders.
Women energy industry in Asia, Women energy industry in Africa, Women energy industry in Latin America, Women energy industry in Middle East, Women energy industry in America
