Changing the dynamics of gender equality in the energy space

While gender equality has always been one of the many causes I fight for, I was only able to have a magnified look at its implications and challenges when I joined the energy sector. Did you know that energy is one of the sectors where women are the most underrepresented (16% of women in the labour force with even lower numbers at management levels) and that this has become an outgrowing cause for concern regarding the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (‘SDG 5’)? So, since then, I have been wondering – and this is probably the engineer in me speaking - … if we want to find the adequate solutions to unlock gender equality in the energy space, we must first identify the root causes of the problem.

Gender equality is undoubtedly a human right. Women have the same rights as men and should be offered the same opportunities. The potential women have is often underrated – and not given the chance to be developed in many cases. Besides, having more women in technical and leadership positions in energy is crucial to fulfil the capabilities that will be needed to achieve a just energy transition- one that balances energy security, affordability, sustainability and inclusion!

But gender disparity is not an isolated issue. Rather, it emerges from a web of interconnected factors (including historical, cultural, social, and structural factors) that require a comprehensive approach of the problem. How do we get there? By adopting a systems thinking approach – a powerful tool that recognises the interconnection of factors and their influences on one another, and identifies key leverage points on which to intervene to drive meaningful change in the system. In short, this means that the problem of gender equality should be tackled entirely, in the same way a doctor would treat a whole person, considering mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

One of the key principles of systems thinking is recognising feedback loops. In the current case, feedback loops can perpetuate the underrepresentation of women. For example, because of the limited number of women leaders in the industry, younger women may lack role models, discouraging them from pursuing energy-related careers, resulting in fewer women entering the energy workforce, therefore reinforcing the gender gap.

Moreover, rather than only focusing on the fact that there aren't many women in leadership roles, we can go a step further and figure out why this gap exists. Are biased hiring practices, a lack of mentorship, or inflexible work arrangements preventing women from accessing to or remaining in leadership positions in the energy space? By finding these underlying causes, and therefore identifying other interconnected feedback loops, we can map out the whole “gender equality” system consisting of many of such feedback loops! The good news is that by understanding and mapping out these loops we can identify some “leverage points” (which are basically some points which are interconnected to many of the loops in the system) and intervene on these leverage points to shift the system in a positive direction.

This can be better achieved through collective work. The power of collaboration is known to make things happen at a faster pace. Cooperation among governments, industries, educational institutions, and civil society is fundamental. Through shared goals and coordinated efforts, we can create synergy that propels us towards a more balanced future.

We have already embarked on our gender equality journey using the systems thinking approach at CSI Energy Group, with the recent launch of Perspectives – an active gender forum targeted at amplifying our women’s voices through which we are collecting our first data to identify our first feedback loops.

Would you like to contribute to our data collection exercise? Do you have some ideas to share about the causes of the underrepresentation of women in the energy space? Please reach out to us!