POWER June 2015 - 32

WORKFORCE
1. Q4: In what field did you get
your highest degree or level of
training? Source: POWER/2015 Women in
Power Generation survey (WIPG survey)
■ Engineering or science ■ Business ■ Other
■ Liberal arts ■ Trade school field (such as welding
or pipe-fitting)
1.9%
5.8%
9.6%
15.4%
67.3%
with the in-depth phone interviews conducted
for the 2008 article.
Respondents were not required to answer
all questions, although most questions
were answered by all participants. The
lowest response (41) was for Q19, " What
do you value most about your career in the
power industry? "
The 52 responses received represent 7%
of the WIPG group but should not be considered
representative of all women in the
power sector, because not all women in the
industry are members. Although this was a
convenience sample based on this group's
membership, this group does include representatives
from multiple generation types.
Note that there are technology-specific
groups and organizations for women in nuclear,
wind, and solar, whereas there are no
coal- or gas-specific power groups. (See the
web supplement " Resources for Women in
Power Generation, " associated with this issue
in the archives at powermag.com, for a
list of those groups.)
Despite the sample size limitation, when
asked in Question 5 (Q5) " What type of
fuel is your current job primarily involved
with? " the responses reflect reasonably well
the contribution of each fuel type to U.S.
power generation, with the exception of
nuclear (the percentage in parentheses is the
2014 number from the Energy Information
Administration)-coal: 42.3% (39%), gas:
26.9% (27%), nuclear: 5.8% (19%), hydro:
3.8% (6%), solar: 0% (0.4%), wind: 1.9%
(4.4%), and other: 19.2%. Those responding
" other " may have not been involved in
fuel-specific parts of the industry or may
have been involved in other less-used fuels
such as biomass and geothermal; three respondents
identified themselves in write-in
comments as being involved with geothermal
power.
Despite the small number of responses,
this survey enabled the collection of more
information, from more people, from diverse
corners of the industry, than was possible
32
Respondent Demographics
Q1 asked, " What type of company do you
work for? " The majority of respondents,
65.4% (34), work for a " Power generation
company, " followed by 26.9% (14)
who work for a " Technical company supporting
or interfacing with power generators
(including equipment manufacturers,
engineering firms, operation and maintenance
firms). " Although " Business
consultants, legal firms, finance/project
development " and " Regulatory agency "
were other choices, those received 0 responses,
but " Other " accounted for 7.7%
(4) of responses.
Younger respondents accounted for the
majority of survey takers, as shown by responses
to Q2: " How many years have you
worked in the power generation field? " The
largest share, 46.2% (24) have spent 0 to 10
years in power; 26.9% (14) have spent 11
to 20 years; 15.4% (8) have spent 21 to 30
years; and 11.5% (6) have spent 31 or more
years in the field.
In response to Q3, " What is your primary
work location? " the majority of survey respondents,
86.3% (44), said North America;
3.9% (2) were from Western Europe; another
3.9% (2) were from Asia; and 5.9% (3) were
from elsewhere.
Q4 asked about educational background
(Figure 1). The majority, 67.3% (35), hold a
degree in engineering or science, followed by
15.4% (8) with business degrees. Note that in
all pie charts, only answers or categories that
received more than 0% responses are shown.
Q6 asked, " Which of the following best
describes your job function? " The largest
percentage, 45.1% (23), answered, " Technical
or trade (including managerial) " ; 35.3%
(18) responded, " Mid-level to senior manager " ;
19.6% (10) responded, " Sales/marketing/administrative. "
Visibility
of Women
Three questions asked about the visibility
of women in respondents' workplaces. The
majority, 60% (30), responded to Q7, " What
is the percentage of women in your work environment-plant,
office, or division? " that
no more than 10% are female (Figure 2). For
other estimates of the percentage of women
employed in the power sector, see " Women
Are Essential to a Thriving Power Generation
www.powermag.com
2. Q7: What is the percentage
of women in your work environment-plant,
office, or division?
Source: POWER/2015 WIPG survey
■ 0% to 5% ■ 6% to 10% ■ 11% to 15% ■ 26% to
50% ■ 21% to 25% ■ over 50%
4.0%
8.0%
12.0%
34.0%
16.0%
26.0%
Sector " in this issue.
Regarding changes over time, Q8 asked,
" In the past 10 years, has the number of
women in your plant or working environment
increased, decreased, or stayed about
the same? " Nearly half, 49% (25), answered,
" Stayed about the same " ; 47.1%
(24) answered, " Increased " ; and 3.9% (2)
answered, " Decreased. "
Since I first started covering women in the
power industry, many articles and individuals
have commented on the importance of role
models, mentors, and sponsors. There are
important differences between mentors and
sponsors that make it tricky to ask about those
supportive individuals in a survey, where respondents
may not share an understanding of
these roles.
Generally, mentors are people from within
or beyond one's company or industry who
advise, encourage, and support one in a
career-often just by listening or being a
sounding board. Mentors may have little or
nothing at stake and often expect nothing
in return. Sponsors, on the other hand, are
more-senior individuals within one's company
or industry who " sponsor " or vouch
for their protégés and put more of their own
reputation on the line by backing someone
for a special assignment, promotion, or job
change. Consequently, sponsorship must be
earned, and the result-or payback-needs
to be that the sponsored individual reflects
well on the sponsor.
Role models, on the other hand, are fundamentally
aspirational and may be mentors,
sponsors, or neither. Q9 asked, " Do
you have female role models in your company
or division? " The majority, 60.8%
POWER | June 2015
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POWER June 2015

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