Having role models and promoting STEM careers among girls are key to fostering women’s leadership in the energy sector

The increase in female role models and the promotion of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers among girls are key factors in fostering women’s presence and leadership in the energy sector. These are some of the key points shared by the speakers at the roundtable “Women in the Energy Sector,”which opened the 21st congress the association for Economics , held at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at the University of Navarra.

The meeting, moderated by Mª Cruz Día de Terán, coordinator of the ICS’s RedWINN network, was attended by representatives from academia, industry, and the public sector: Esperanza Aristu Pérez de Larraya, director of the Energy Transition Service of the Government of Navarre and member of board of trustees the CENER Foundation; Mª Cristina Pizarro Irizar, full professor at the University of the Basque Country and associate researcher at the Basque Center for Climate Change; and Sofía Pérez Litago, director of management group .

According to data in the latest edition of the Observatory on the Role of Women in Energy Sector Companies, sponsored by the association of Women in Energy (AEMENER) and presented at the event, in 2022, the issue women employed in energy sector companies reached 32.9%. This figure represents a compound annual growth rate of 3% since 2010.

The study also reveals that women continue to be more prevalent in the business than in the private business , although the trend is declining in the public sector. In contrast, the private sector continues to show a positive trend. The results also reveal that there are still 24% fewer Issue in senior management compared to the most prevalent professional categories. In any case, the trend is positive, and the number of women joining the workforce in the energy sector has continued to grow since 2010.

A Paradigm Shift
Pérez noted that the changing perception of engineering is helping to attract more professionals: “Engineering used to be seen as a very traditional field, but now it attracts a lot of young talent, both male and female.” In this regard, Pizarro noted that “girls’ motivationtoward STEM careers,” as well as “the presence of more female role models,” are contributing significantly to this shift starting in the early stages of Education.

During the roundtable, they also highlighted measures already in place to increase the visibility and strengthen the role of women professionals in the sector. For Pérez, although “there is no magic formula,” it is essential that “best practices be integrated into the business own culture and implemented in its day-to-day operations—for example, in work schedulesor in leave policies for accompanying family members for medical reasons, a burden that continues to fall more heavily on women.” For her part, Aristu emphasized that public administration, in addition to implementing a series of shared responsibility measures within its own teams, also has a responsibility to promote them in companies seeking public contracts: “We promote renewable energy and energy efficiency by providing grants development fund development . And we can promote equality measures by awarding grants or contracting services that impose certain obligations on companies, such as having equality plans and work-life balance measures.”

From his perspective, the energy sector offers “an opportunity to create a better world, with a more equitable energy system and energy communities.” In this regard, Pizarro noted that he envisions “a decarbonized and electrified future, where quality jobs are created and more measures of shared responsibility are developed. It is a sector that must contribute value to society.”