This is part two of a three-part series examining the challenges and opportunities women face in the oil patch. The information was collected through a brief e-mail questionnaire with a promise of anonymity for those responding.

While a majority of men think women have won their battle for equality in the petroleum industry, many women do not share that rosy outlook. These women, and some men, have strong views about the reasons inequalities continue.
Women shared their observations:
• "Go to the North American Prospect Expo in Houston next year and count the women attending in any and all disciplines. Ratio - 1:100."
• "I just came back from the ATC SPE meeting in New Orleans, and I was shocked to see that there were very few women in the technical sections that I attended. I believe women are really not staying within this business."
Women are underrepresented at the executive levels of most large corporations. Amplifying the disparities, many women think advancing in the petroleum industry is especially challenging. One factor frequently is noted in explaining why few women have risen to high management levels in the oil industry. Experience in the field and worldwide is considered by many to be important in advancing.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork looms large in many aspects of this industry. In the not-too-distant past, women were unwelcome in the field. The following comments by men acknowledge the difficulties this has created:
• "The traditional entry path through field operations is unfriendly to women. A short circuit around this blocked entry is via the MBA. Do not pass go. Do not pretend to be one of the lads heaving iron in Deepmud, La. Go straight to the boardroom via M&A activities. The fastest-growing companies today are growing by strategy rather than engineering. Women are good at these games, better, in my opinion, than linear-thinking engineers reared on drilling and production experiences."
• "In field operations we tend to have close living quarters. The pressures on women in these situations are greater than a man would encounter. My experience has been that women leave our industry (certainly my company) in greater percentages than do men from the entry level of fieldwork, hence fewer are around to populate higher echelons of our industry. This makes it critical to recognize and promote talented women more efficiently than their male counterparts. It is basic statistics as far as I am concerned."
Despite the difficulties, women have been battling to get ahead in field assignments for many years.
One woman said, "When I started in the early '80s, many companies would not allow women to be drilling or production foremen in the field. Where separate living quarters were not available, women were not allowed. Like military women who are not allowed on the front lines, it is hard to move up the ladder in the drilling or producing areas of our business with no field experience.
Some aspects have clearly improved. Women commented:
• "From a technical standpoint, I do not feel that I have been severely hampered. I've gone on seismic boats and land crews where the accommodations were gender-friendly."
• "I spend quite a bit of time offshore on rigs and feel that I am treated equally out there. I cannot say enough wonderful things about my experiences offshore. I am expected to carry my own bags, open my own doors... a totally level playing field."
Unfortunately, despite the progress, some women's responses reveal some serious problems:
• "My biggest disappointment this year was discovering that women new to drilling were facing many of the same challenges that I did 18 years ago, and management was still struggling to deal with them effectively. A friend and I recently talked about a foreman in the (Gulf of Mexico), who used to make some women 'kiss him goodbye' before he'd authorize a helicopter. I don't think much of that sort of thing is allowed to happen anymore. Things appear to have become less physical, but I was disappointed in the continuing examples of things which prevent women from accessing all they need to do their jobs."
• "I am a 29-year-old female engineer and have been in the industry for 7 years. I was almost immediately supervising well workovers and getting important assignments. Being a female probably helped more than it hurt me because I stood out (and I'd like to think my work stood out, too). I quickly moved up to a high-profile portfolio-management assignment. I am now a drilling engineer in the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling is an entirely different beast. It has been much harder to try to break into this 'old boys network.' Also, I'm given more of the secretarial-type things to do than the other engineers. It is almost a foregone conclusion that I will want to be moving along to reservoir engineering... I have never expressed any interest in this field at all and have actually been rather outspoken about my desire to spend my career in operations. And still, I am asked this every month or two."
Another young woman, 1 year into her career said, "I wouldn't ever work in the field. When I went on a 4-day field trip to a 3-D seismic survey, I was treated like I was stupid. It seems to be that the older the people you work with, the more unequal it becomes."
While geosciences like engineering may involve fieldwork, a man suggested, "In the descriptive geosciences (geology, geophysics) women have a far better chance of advancement than in the engineering sectors." Obviously, the field is not level if women are advised to avoid certain specialties.
Industry publications are full of stories about how drilling and other field activities have become high-tech. Fieldwork is no longer dependent on brute strength. The physical capacity of women for heavy field labor should no longer be an issue. Since strength is not the issue, the most likely culprit is attitude. Does our industry still condone sexist behavior in men who work in the field?
Global business
There is no disputing the global nature of the petroleum industry. Even if women are never stationed overseas, global attitudes toward women have an impact on many careers.
One woman said, "It is nearly impossible to be a real executive player in the oil field without sufficient and sometimes considerable international exposure. Norway, and to some extent the UK, provide some opportunities for females, but the real future for oil companies is in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The Middle East is not even an option for a female executive. Lower-level females, who are kept hidden in places like UAE, can survive, however, they have no real influence over the business. So a women can become some VP of US operations or of declining North Sea production, but her real chances of moving to the next level are limited."
A man echoed these observations: "The field is not level in societies where women are not considered equal to men, such as in several Middle Eastern countries. In many of these cases, women can hold fairly high-level technical positions, but cannot become a part of upper management. What a loss."
A woman said, "Being a woman in the Middle East is not easy. It is even more difficult if you are a woman with great ambitions in life and work. The emphasis in the Middle Eastern culture is on your gender as well as your roots."
However, she added, "In Kuwait, women have been active participants in the oil industry since the late '60s. The small geographical area of Kuwait and the location of the main fields and facilities near the main cities gave the women an opportunity to participate actively in all aspects of the business, both in administrative and technical jobs. Since that time, we have had female technical and administration staff working in the various departments. And now we have executives in all ranks. We have two female C&MDs sitting on the board of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., and we have a female assistant undersecretary in the Ministry of Oil. More than 2,000 women work in the oil industry in Kuwait. This is very progressive and very remarkable for a Middle Eastern state."
Do Westerners overreact to concerns about Muslim sensitivities and thereby undercut their own women?
A few years ago, I was part of a team working on a Middle East exploration bid round. To positively influence our chances, we decided to put on a dog-and-pony show in the country. Much of the team working on the project, including the vice president, the negotiator and the key technical specialist, were female. The female vice president decided we couldn't risk sending so many women and brought in male substitutes.
Americans tend to be smug and think they treat women better than any other countries.
A Middle Eastern woman observed, "The US and continental European countries lag behind Scandinavia, where women have played a bigger role in the industrial sector for many years."
There remain parts of the world Americans may believe women should avoid. However, again, it may be a case of underestimating other cultures and women's capabilities. Women's comments included:
• "I worked in Latin America for 12 years and traveled to several countries. While there was concern by my company that I might have some difficulty with the Latin macho mentality, I never felt a problem with it whether with my peers, partners or government representatives."
• "In my 20-plus-year career when I worked for an oil company, I often felt protected by my managers and even co-workers. While I appreciated the sentiment, this made it difficult for the playing field to be even."
If women want to take on the myriad risks that go with this international business, management should not stop them for paternalistic reasons. Risk and advancement go hand in hand. Women cannot expect to advance if they are unwilling to accept the same travel risks as men.
One of the things I love about this business is traveling to places you would never go as a tourist and working with the people there. I've ridden on buses with gun-toting guards; been in crumbling countries; flown in during states of emergency and stayed through a coup. My vaccination record book has extra pages attached.
Similarly, when managers hesitate to send a woman to a Muslim or male-dominated country, they should realize that if she gains credibility, she will be a much more memorable and valuable representative than the average male. Early in my career, a male colleague told me I was less valuable to our company than he was because as a woman I couldn't go to Saudi Arabia. My reaction was to find a project that involved travel to Saudi Arabia. After the first visit, I was invited back three times. Managers must be willing to stand behind their female employees and deploy them internationally.

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