POWER September 2017 - 36

WORKFORCE
What It Takes to Be a
POWER-ful Woman
It's no secret that women are underrepresented in the energy industry. According
to the Department of Energy, less than a quarter of U.S. workers in the
electric power generation field are women, compared to an average of
46.8% in the national workforce. Some influential women in the industry
share their thoughts on how to address this disparity.
Abby Harvey
T
he Department of Energy's (DOE's)
latest U.S. Energy and Employment
report covers four sectors of the U.S.
economy: the electric power generation and
fuels sector; the transmission, distribution,
and storage sector; the energy efficiency sector;
and the motor vehicles sector. The report
found that " These energy-related sectors are
relatively less diverse compared to the overall
national workforce. Women are a smaller
portion of the workforce in these sectors,
ranging from 22 to 34 percent, compared to
the overall economy, where women make up
47 percent of the workforce. "
According to the DOE report, in general,
the electric power generation sector employs
more women than the fuel sector. For example,
coal electric power generation employs
more women than coal fuels, with women
comprising about 37% of the generation
workforce. This carries into the oil and gas
sector, with about a third of workers in generation
being women. Roughly a third of the
combined heat and power generation sector
is comprised of women. " Nuclear generation
has a relatively high proportion of female
workers, with almost four in ten employees
reported to be women, " the report says.
Nancy Pfund (Figure 1), founder and managing
partner of DBL Partners, suggests that
the energy sector needs to attract more women
for their unique contributions. " We need
more women in this sector. The perspective
and integrative approach that women bring to
investing and business is especially valuable
in this sector because of the combination of
technical and social forces at work in each
company, " she told POWER.
Women are gaining a foothold in the solar
industry, according to the Solar Foundation's
annual jobs census. " Women represent
a greater proportion of the solar workforce
than in previous years, having risen steadily
from 18.7% in 2013 to the 28% reported in
2016. The increase from 2015 to 2016 repre36
1.
Women needed. The energy industry could use the input of women, Nancy Pfund
(left), founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, told POWER. Courtesy: The Hawthorn
Club
sented the largest annual jump to date, moving
from 24% to 28%, " the report says.
That figure only gets more dismal when
looking at women in leadership positions.
According to a 2016 analysis conducted by
international advisory firm Korn Ferry, only
6% of energy industry CEOs are women,
10% of industry chief technology officers are
women, 35% of chief information officers are
women, and 13% of chief marketing officers
are women. Only in the role of chief human
resources officer do women outnumber men
at roughly 57%. All told, the analysis finds
that women fill 24% of C-Suite positions in
the energy sector.
The Global Perspective
The global situation is harder to parse, as
comprehensive data is not available. The
United States Agency for International Dewww.powermag.com
velopment
(USAID) in 2014 released a report
looking specifically at renewables. The
report notes that " In two countries that have
uniquely monitored these numbers, women's
employment was estimated several years ago
at 26% in Spain (in 2010) and 24% in Germany
(in 2007). "
The USAID report goes on to suggest that
women might find the renewables sector
more inviting. " The renewable energy sector
is perceived to be less discriminatory than
the fossil fuels industry because it is a new
and non-traditional field. And there is some
evidence that women are drawn to choose
career paths in line with their worldview or
that they believe will make a difference in the
world, " the report says.
This rings true for Trude Sundset, CEO
of Norway's state-run carbon capture and
storage (CCS) enterprise, Gassnova. " I feel
POWER | September 2017
http://www.powermag.com

POWER September 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER September 2017

Contents
POWER September 2017 - Cover1
POWER September 2017 - Cover2
POWER September 2017 - Contents
POWER September 2017 - 2
POWER September 2017 - 3
POWER September 2017 - 4
POWER September 2017 - 5
POWER September 2017 - 6
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