Women in Energy
The SPE International Women in Energy (WIN) Committee was formed in 2016.
WIN was launched to promote gender diversity in the upstream oil and gas industry by attracting, retaining and engaging women in the STEM fields. SPEI’s vision is to empower women to realize their full potential in the industry through coaching, mentorship and access to the broader network of global WIN committees. The Gulf Coast Section (GCS) launched its own WIN committee in 2018 to further support the mission and vision of SPEI within our section. GCS hopes to carry this vision forward through all WIN events, especially at its second annual, highly anticipated WIN Congress event coming this January 31, 2020.
Our first GCS WIN event was held in early 2019. The SPE-GCS WIN 2019 Congress served as a single-day event focused on the central theme “Playing to WIN." The congress aimed to encourage both men and women to address gender-gap challenges in the energy industry and identify actions to overcome them. With 24 speakers and panelists, we hosted a wide array of professionals, such as BP America Chairman and President Susan Dio and TechnipFMC Senior Technical Advisor Brian Skeels. The congress utilized inspirational talks, sharing of best practices and expert-led discussions to enable teams of men and women to improve diversity in leadership roles, eliminate wage gaps and hire the best-qualified workforce.
Overall, it left an invaluable impression on all the men and women who attended.
In preparation for our first congress, many of those who registered and attended participated in a survey. The results depicted gender-gap challenges in the energy industry, and are as follows:
Regarding gender bias, 50 percent of men and 90 percent of women surveyed believed it exists; 25 percent of men and 4 percent of women believed it does not; and the rest were unsure. Regarding companies rectifying gender bias, 54 percent of men and 12 percent of women surveyed thought companies are; 24 percent of men and 63 percent of women thought they are not; while the rest were Additionally, 65 percent of men and 47 percent of women thought women could hold any job role. From those with technical positions (54 percent), 55 percent of men and 55 percent of women saw themselves in a long-term managerial role, while 23 percent of men and 31 percent of women saw themselves staying in a technical role.
We are pleased to announce the theme for our second annual WIN Congress is “Innovate Integrate Inspire!” As a reminder, this event will be held on January 31, 2020. In response to last year’s feedback, the WIN Congress 2020 is expecting an increase in attendance from last year’s sold- out event, so early registration is key! To register, please go to https://www.spegcs.org/events/4486/.
To gain current and up-to-date insight on diversity and inclusion in the oil and gas industry, please take the survey. Results will be presented at the upcoming congress.
tinyurl.com/spewincongress2020.
Want to be a sponsor?
Go to www.spegcs.org/events/4630/.
I look forward to seeing you all at the next WIN Congress!
Until next month,
Gabrielle Morrow