Energy Sector Study Shows Progress in Inclusion, Diversity

Some U.S. energy technology and service companies are seeing more women in the workforce, bucking a national trend evident when the COVID-19 pandemic upended traditional work and personal lives last year, according to results of a recent study.

Research unveiled June 8 by the Energy Technology & Workforce Council, working with the Ireland-headquartered Accenture consulting firm, shows the percentage of women in the council’s U.S. energy technology and services sector inched up by 3% to 19% within the past three years. The increase is just short of the 20% goal the council set in 2018 when its first gender diversity study was published.

Putting the percentage of women in the sector in context of what not only the industry but the U.S. as a whole experienced last year is important, according to Molly Determan, the council’s COO.

In all, “in 2020 we lost more women from the workforce. We also lost a lot of people from the oil and gas industry, especially women last year,” Determan told Hart Energy. “As things normalize and we’re recruiting people back into the industry, I hope that we will continue to see the focus on bringing women and minorities back into the sector.”

The council, formed earlier this year by the merger of the Association of Energy Service Companies and the Petroleum Equipment & Services Association, surveyed more than 25 companies covering about 250,000 employees globally, including more than 63,000 in the U.S. It looked at the workforce makeup of the U.S. plus the country’s oil and gas workforce using Department of Labor statistics and council workforce data prepared by Accenture.

Their work comes amid the ESG movement with the social aspect focusing on how companies manage relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and communities where they operate.

Results show the percentage of women and ethnic minorities in the sector still trails their representations in the overall U.S. workforce. The study revealed women account for 47% of the overall U.S. workforce, compared to 19% for both the U.S. oil and gas workforce (up from 15% in 2018) and the council U.S. workforce (up from 16%).

“I was encouraged to see that we made progress in gender diversity. … I really didn’t know where we would land in the race and ethnicity because we hadn’t done that before,” Determan said. “I think that there is closer parity on race and ethnicity to the representation with the overall U.S. workforce.”

This year marked the first time the council studied race and ethnicity, which sets a baseline for future study. The June 8 report concluded that ethnic minority representation within the sector also lags the overall U.S. workforce. In all, black/African American, Asian and Hispanic/Latino employees make up 36% of the overall U.S. workforce. For the U.S. oil and gas workforce, it’s 28%, and it’s 25% for the council U.S. workforce.

“But it’s clear that we have work to do for both women and race and ethnicity, especially when it comes into the leadership positions and even drilling down further, when it comes to operational and technical leadership roles,” she added.

Based on survey results, the council highlighted areas where the sector could work toward improvement. These, as stated in a news release, include:

• 66% offer learning and development initiatives targeted at inclusion and diversity;

• 56% offer paid primary caregiver parental leave;

• 40% of companies have C-level endorsed inclusion and diversity strategies;

• 40% offer formal mentorship programs and   

• 32% offer basic flexible work programs, such as telecommuting.

“Retention and advancement programs can grow with increased endorsement from C-suite leaders, whose visibility is key to boosting workforce diversity,” Ben Carey, a managing director who leads Accenture’s energy equipment and services practice, said in the release. “For example, leaders should collaborate more closely with employee resource groups where more women and minority leaders can share how they navigated their careers so that others can better follow their examples.

“This will be vital for all functions,” he added, “but especially the digital technology and service functions that will help drive the industry’s recovery.”

Determan pointed out that flexible work programs, specifically those outside of the pandemic response, are important. She noted that companies in the council are forming flexible work policies as everyone returns to the office, a move she believes will significantly help grow percentages of women and minorities working in the sector.

The report also recommended companies focus on retention, work to attract diverse and innovative talent, and amplify advancement opportunities through mentorship and leadership role-modeling.

“Obviously, we need to develop the pipeline of diverse talent for leadership roles, starting with STEM education as early as the elementary school-age level. We just need to have a bigger pipeline of people,” Determan said.

She added the council also recommends companies offer competitive compensation, “making sure that there isn’t any type of gap between genders and minorities, and conduct diversity and inclusion reviews.”

The council, which represents more than 600 energy technology and service companies, offers programs that are “designed to educate, empower and elevate its individual members and member companies,” according to its website. These programs include the Inclusion & Diversity Business Champion Program, a yearlong program that equips managers and business leaders with skills needed to affect change within their organizations.