Women in the energy sector

I was going to start this blog with ‘As a woman working in a predominately male industry...’, but then I realised that in the company I work for - Storengy UK a subsidiary of Engie - there are a number of successful women in senior and important roles. Firstly, Engie’s CEO is Isabelle Kocher; Cecile Previeu is Storengy’s Business Unit CEO; and the CEO of Germany and the UK is Catherine Gras.

So I will begin again with... As a woman working in the energy industry, I feel that there is still more that can be done to encourage women to join companies like mine and as a communications professional I have the opportunity to share this with you all and felt it was appropriate to post this on International Women's Day. Although, as I’ve noted, there are a number of women in senior management roles within Engie, they remain under represented in engineering & technology positions within the industry. This shows that, while we are making great strides, there is plenty more that we can do. 

As this UN report from 2016 shows, even in developed economies such as the UK, women are still more likely to be found in the so-called caring professions like education and health care rather than in engineering or technology. 

http://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/infographic/changingworldofwork/en/index.html

One of the ways in which Storengy UK is working to improve the balance is through our involvement with the Cheshire Energy Hub, http://www.cheshireenergyhub.co.uk they encourage collaboration across various energy companies based in the county. As part of this there is a Graduate Recruitment Programme open to graduates from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, enabling young people to gain real, in-depth knowledge of the power and energy sector.

Through this initiative we can give young women and men experience on the job, moving between a number of leading energy companies based in Cheshire which will offer them a greater understanding of the energy business and help them to build connections with key players in the industry and we hope, to promote the opportunities available to women in our industry.

Now is the perfect time to get involved in the energy industry and with Storengy UK, as we look to find solutions for low carbon energy, with a real need for creative thinking, strong leadership skills, understanding the complex changing needs of commercial and residential energy supply. There are more opportunities than ever before for women to join us and there are so many different areas of activity to get involved in: from engineering to IT, research & development to strategic leadership.

I’m proud to work for a company that has an inclusive culture, where employees of all genders are seen as equal when it comes to offering insights and opinions that can shape the way the company moves forward. Female contribution will be invaluable to developing Storengy and the wider energy sector in the years to come.

Louise Mason