Gender Diversity in Energy and Tech
Getting girls interested in Science Technology Engineering and Maths from an early age will help to bridge global skills gaps across our key sectors and improve gender diversity in energy and tech sectors.
Traditionally, the energy and technology sectors are seen as male dominated industries. However, at Visuna, we’re keen to be part of global efforts to make both sectors more appealing to women.
Despite our position as recruitment specialists in sectors traditionally dominated by male workforces, at Visuna, 75% of our workforce are women – and all staff within the company want to see more women doing well in energy and tech all over the world.
Our company has a particular focus on creating an environment where all our staff are supported in terms of the care and respect they are shown and promoting a positive work life balance, with hybrid working and flexible start times.
But these values are not just important to our female colleagues and potential candidates for the roles we are recruiting for. We believe in providing and promoting equal opportunities for all staff to benefit from flexible working.
Improving Gender Diversity in Energy and Tech
At Visuna, we want to work with other forward-thinking organisations who recognise that gender roles and responsibilities outside of people’s working lives are changing and a more flexible approach to work is required across the board.
We’re also keen to work with global energy and tech sector clients who demonstrate the valued roles of women within their organisations, promoting female mentors and role models within energy and tech to encourage the next generation of women within the sectors.
Industry Statistics
A report published by UKTN, the home of UK Tech, highlights that efforts are being made to “close the gender gap” in tech in the UK.
There are certainly plenty of opportunities for women in technology, with the government-funded growth network Tech Nation reporting nearly three million people, or 9% of the UK workforce, were employed in the UK tech industry in January 2022.
However, at this time, just 26% of those in the tech workforce were women compared to 50% in the labour market as a whole.
An insightful article on the engie.com website, featuring Catherine MacGregor, CEO of ENGIE, outlines the belief that the success of the energy transition depends on greater diversity in the whole sector.
Engie is committed to achieving this at every level within its own workforce.
The article explores how the energy sector lacks diversity, with just 27.2% women in electricity and gas industries in France.
As the article explains, this is largely down to the fact that fewer women choose to study scientific and technical disciplines that provide training for the key energy professions.
Thankfully, there are efforts to encourage more women and girls to study for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), which should lead to an increase in women working in the technology and energy sectors in the future.
Education and Engagement
Mentoring programmes are being developed as part of ongoing efforts to develop what UKTN describes as a “diverse talent pipeline” and the education sector is focused on promoting STEM subjects to girls from an early age.
In the North East of England, where Visuna’s head office is based, the University of Sunderland reported an increase in the number of girls studying STEM subjects and outlined its commitment to further accelerating this trend in 2019.
The University recognised this was vital to plugging a skills shortage of an estimated 173,000 workers in STEM-based careers which was costing UK employers £1.5bn a year according to stem.org.uk.
We’re proud to be working in a region where there is a demonstrable commitment to getting more women and girls into STEM and thankfully, things are moving in the right direction.
Women in Energy and Tech
To coincide with International Women in Engineering Day in June this year, the stem.org.uk website reported that as of June 2021, figures showed that 16.5% of engineers are women – a 25.7% increase over the course of five years.
However, the iea.org website discusses how women make up only 13.9% of senior management within the energy and energy utilities composite, which is marginally lower than in the sample from non-energy industries at 15.5%.
Among the energy business lines, women in senior roles are better represented in the utilities sector at 17.1%, with electric utilities and independent power plants at the low end at 16.5%, followed by natural gas utilities at 18%. Multiline utilities are at the higher end of the distribution at 20.3%.
Excluding utilities, representation for all other energy-related business lines is far lower at an average 12.1%.
However, there are some positives according to the iea.org website, which states efforts to improve gender diversity are “moving apace”.
The Automation Federation says that getting more women into STEM careers, such as the vacancies that exist in the tech and energy sectors, will require a partnership among parents, educational institutions, governments, industry, and organisations.
As a recruitment specialist in the energy and tech sectors, we remain committed to keeping conversations about gender diversity within these sectors well and truly open.
