Empowering Women in the Kingdom of Men

Women in Oil & Gas Industry

The oil and gas industry is undoubtedly a male-dominated arena. About 85% of its global workforce are males. This industry is known to be notorious for women to establish a stable career path.

It was only when crude prices began to crash when oil and energy executives realized the profitability of hiring and retaining women in the industry.  Globalization has been reshaping gender diversity in the workplace. The focus on female workers is in the works to escalate gender balance and under-representation.

Challenges

Workforce in Oil & Gas Industry Challenged

More than the diversity problem, this is an industry where racism and sexism have been norms, making recruitment of women a tough job and a challenging work for recruitment agencies.

Gender-related challenges build wide gaps in perception between men and women. When technical and field roles started to open doors for women, scarcity of comfort rooms for ladies arise.  Some women who were sent to gas stations have reported cases being doubted and discriminated by their men counterparts. Women with children exhibited inefficiency in delivering their jobs.

Men and women start equally in this industry, however, it is rare for women to reach the top echelons because of gender barriers that are still existing with companies where gender diversity is not yet a high strategic priority.

In a report by the World Petroleum Council (WPC), only a few women were offered with technical and operating roles that are crucial for them to advance to senior management roles. Their limited presence in technical roles does not account for their lack of ambition to climb the ladder higher but with existing policies that prohibit their career advancement.

Diversity

Workforce Diversity in Oil & Gas Industry

Yuri Inoue, head of Showa Shell’s legal division, said that it would be difficult for companies to differentiate themselves in the oil industry without emphasizing women’s participation. Diversity is vital for survival. Attracting, retaining, and empowering more women in the industry is relevant to be done.

The future’s demand for shared energy is not attainable by discovering all types of energy source available but by nurturing “diversity of thought,” said Eileen Wilkinson, Vice President for Exploration in MENA at Shell. She added that a company’s longevity could be assured by inspiring more women to enter the industry.

In a survey by Ernst & Young Global Ltd, 615  of 1000 oil and gas professionals agree that gender diversity impacts the financial performance of a company. Gender diversity helps an industry to attain broader perspective which later drives a company’s growth. The industry should start imagining the number of innovative solutions that the joint efforts of male and female oil and gas employees can come up to.

The modern women are very much open to working for the oil and gas industry. Especially in the Philippines, competitive women are at par on the level of technical workers.  Women workforce from third world countries can do the toughest of jobs –  they can multitask, they can think through complex problems, as much as men can do.

The attractiveness of the oil and gas industry could be promoted by making career paths more accommodating to a wider range of jobs up to senior roles.  Work-life balance policies should also be made available and be applied equally to both genders. This effort looks forward to breaking down gender barriers in the status quo. The small percentage of women participating from this sector suggests that there is an evidently big population that are not maximized to make decisions that could create real positive impact on the oil, gas, chemical, and energy industry.

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ABOUT THE COMPANY: Rensol Recruitment and Consulting, Inc. is the fastest growing recruitment agency in The Philippines. A career consultant that aims to go above and beyond the level of expectations of both the aspirations of the candidates and the dream team standards of employers through providing exceptional opportunities and unparalleled quality-driven recruitment services.

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