Study from POWERful Women initiative confirms more women are being appointed to senior management positions, but one-in-five energy firms still have no women on their boards and out of 80 companies just four have female CEOs
The drive to increase the number of women appointed to board positions at the UK's leading energy companies appears to have stalled, according to the latest progress report released today by the POWERful Women initiative and consultancy Bain & Company.
According to the Group's Annual State of the Nation report on diversity at the UK's leading energy businesses, the proportion of women in both executive and non-executive roles on company boards remains unchanged from last year at 29 per cent.
Only 16 per cent of executive directors at leading energy companies are women - a level that is also the unchanged from last year - while just four per cent of firms have a female chair. Out of the 80 UK energy firms surveyed, which collectively employ more than 190,000 people, only four have a female CEO.
One-in-five UK energy companies still have no women represented at board level, while three-quarters have no female board directors.
Although the past 12 months yielded no progress on representation at board level among the UK energy sector's leading companies, the analysis reveals more encouraging trends at a senior management level. For example, 34 per cent of leadership roles - defined as executive committee level positions and their direct reports - are held by women, up by three percentage points from last year.
As such, POWERful Women stressed that its goal of achieving 40 per cent female representation in senior positions across the industry remained within reach.
It found 24 out of 80 firms surveyed have already reached or surpassed the goal of 40 per cent female representation at board level, while a further 17 per cent reached 40 per cent women holding roles as executive directors.
The group said that adding just one more woman per board this year would bridge the gap to the 40 per cent by 2025 target for boards set by the FTSE Women Leaders Review. It also calculated that adding an average of five additional women to each leadership team by 2030 - fewer than one per company per year - would see the 40 per cent target reached this decade.
"This year's data paints a disappointing picture of how few women there still are in key decision-making roles on the boards of the UK's energy sector, with progress stalling in the last 12 months," said Katie Jackson, chair of POWERful Women.
"We do see a welcome rise in the number of women represented in the leadership pipeline and the sector is on track to meet POWERful Women's target of 40 per cent of these roles by 2030. But more needs to be done to improve female representation, particularly among the 20 per cent of energy companies who, shockingly, have no women on their boards at all."
Olga Muscat, partner at Bain & Company and head of the firm's UK utilities practice, said that while gender diversity efforts in the UK energy sector had delivered tangible improvements over the past decade, the data shows the sector is "clearly not moving fast enough" and needs to find a way to accelerate progress.
"At Bain, our research and client work suggests that each company needs an actionable blueprint on DEI, which includes a bold ambition with measurable targets and sustained leadership commitment, alongside investment in critical enablers such as governance and resourcing, technology and data," she said. "Perhaps most importantly though, companies need to go beyond representation alone and truly focus on creating an inclusive organisation, as inclusion is one of the most powerful levers for both employee experience and business performance".
Jonathan Brearley, CEO at energy industry regulator Ofgem, said the energy sector needed to do more attract, develop, and retain the brightest talents if it is to accelerate the energy transition towards net zero emissions.
"Diversity and inclusion are essential for creating a greener, cleaner, and more secure future, as well as an energy sector that meets customer needs," he said. "Diversity in skills and thinking is increasingly vital to foster the innovation and leadership necessary for a secure and affordable energy transition. As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of POWERful Women's State of the Nation report, it is the perfect time to reflect upon the progress made but also focus on what else needs to be done to achieve greater gender equality within the sector."
Recent research from LinkedIn has previously revealed a worrying "green ceiling" for women in the sustainability sector's jobs and leadership roles, while the same study showed 16 per cent of men have at least one green skill, compared to 10 per cent of women.
And while LinkedIn also found that 2.5 times more women than men have joined the green talent pool over the last two years, it claims the pace of change remains too slow and that the gender gap in green industries is still widening.
This lack of diversity is also visible in many emerging clean tech industries, which are inherently reliant on engineering and technical skills. According to government figures, in 2018 22 per cent of STEM workers and eight per cent of people in "skilled trades" were women.
This autumn BusinessGreen will be hosting the inaugural Women in Green Business Awards, which aims to celebrate and showcase the work undertaken by women to advance the green economy. You can find out more about how to support the event here.
