Women in energy
International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8 every year since 1911. This article is the latest installment of our three-part series for International Women’s Day 2025, exploring the intersection of gender and sustainability. The energy sector, an essential pillar of climate action, remains one of the most dominant industries by men, slowing progress towards a sustainable future.
Women in Energy: Bridging of Gender Trench
Despite the global push for renewable energy, women are highly subjected. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency. The renewable energy sector has seen a steady increase in recent years, however gender capital remains an important challenge, with women who make up only 32% of the renewable global energy labor force. Despite progress, such as the workforce 40% of women in the photovoltaic solar industry, women continue to be sub-represented in technical, managerial and policy positions, especially in the wind energy sector, where they represent only 21% of the workforce. This inequality is especially evident in the multidisciplinary energy and technology sector, for which women often are more attracted to, but still remains largely dominated by men. According to Irena reports, there is a pressing need to increase women’s participation at all levels to unlock their talent and potential, providing sector benefits from different perspectives, leadership and innovation.
In areas with limited access to electricity, women’s engagement as key contributors to renewable energy solutions outside the network can significantly affect both sustainability and gender equality results. Irene findings show that women’s involvement in the energy value chain – ranking from consultation and planning to construction and operation – creates employment opportunities while empowering women in the country. These opportunities are particularly influential in areas where adoption of renewable energy is increasing rapidly, as women’s leadership can promote sustainable solutions that resonate at the family and community level. With women in the vanguard of innovation and energy deployment, the sector will benefit from more cooperative work environments, improved performance and a more comprehensive approach to address climate change and energy poverty.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), women make up about 20% of global energy workforce, despite representing nearly 40% of global workforce in all sectors. This subfirement is particularly evident in leadership roles within the energy industry, where women remain mostly absent. Moreover, IEA emphasizes that the number of women entering professional-professional occupations for many energy-related work-is also significantly low, with women representing less than 3% of workers in certain trade such as roofs and electricians, which are essential to the energy sector.
IEA further emphasizes the importance of increasing the number of women pursuing education in energy -related fields, especially in vocational training. IEA data highlights the promising tendencies in the Employment Education, but the imbalance remains visible in the workforce of energy. This underlines the lost opportunity to introduce into a wide group of talent that can lead to the power transitions forward. Expanding gender involvement in energy policies and planning will not only improve the variety of skills and perspectives, but will also contribute to the future of safer and equal energy globally.
Energy Progress: How women’s involvement can promote the sector
A comprehensive energy sector of energy is essential for accelerating the transition of pure energy. Studies from IEA point out that countries with the highest gender equality in energy policy and labor force participation have faster rates of renewable energy adoption. According to the 2022 IEA World Energy Employment Report, global energy and connected sectors employed over 65 million people in 2019, accounting for nearly 2% of official employment worldwide. Of these, half are employed in pure energy technologies. Employment within the energy sector is approximately divided into three categories: fuel supply, energy sector and latest energy uses, with each sector that includes about one -third of the general labor force. However, women are significantly subjected to the energy sector. However, they make up 40% of the global workforce, women make up only 16% of the workforce in traditional energy sectors. Moreover, women hold below 14% of high management positions in the energy sector, which is below the first 16% in the entire global economy. Gender inequality is more pronounced in sectors such as nuclear and coal, where the part of women in high management is as low as 8% and 9%, respectively, while electrical services, with nearly 20% of women, perform a little better.
The report underlines the prospect of gender involvement in the energy sector, especially in the context of pure energy. While there are no significant differences in the employment of women between fossil fuel sectors and clean energy sectors globally, the beginnings of pure energy show promising signs of change, with a higher part of founding women and inventors. This change is an opportunity to improve the representation of women in the growing segments of pure energy. According to the Net Scenario of IEA emissions, 14 million new pure -energy work is expected to be created by 2030, underlining the growth potential. However, for women’s roles to improve in all sectors, further efforts are needed. Introducing public sector support policies and private sector initiatives that promote various employment practices can help achieve better gender balance, especially in management. Studies have shown that diversity improves the firm’s performance, competition and innovation, which are essential for the advancement of the energy sector and the fulfillment of global change goals.
Empowering women to lead in energy
Systemic barriers remain an important challenge for women in the energy sector. According to a 2020 report from Harvard business reviewWomen -driven beginnings receive only 2% of entrepreneurial capital funds, a statistic that has not changed over the past four years, as confirmed by a 2024 World economic forum Report. This constant underestimation severely limits women’s ability to scale solutions that can promote widespread decarbonization. Moreover, the lack of mentoring, gender prejudice in employment and poor workplace crops, made up of inadequate policies, continue to hinder women’s progress in leadership roles. Despite the desire for the high talent of women, many enterprise cultures remain unable to accommodate women in these roles, eventually leading to their departure from the organization. This underlines the critical need for changes in corporate environments to promote a comprehensive and supportive space for women to thrive in the sector.
To accelerate the actions and closure of the gender gap in energy, governments and corporations must apply bold, targeted initiatives. Increasing investment in women’s energy -driven startups, implementing gender diversity policies and creating stem education programs that equip women with the ability to lead energy will be critical to achieve a more inclusive and innovative sector. Champion women in sustainability, climate change and energy can unlock an equal gender world that is not only fairer, but also the most resilient and most stable future. For further knowledge, look at other articles in the series: Women and Sustainability: Unfinished War for a Greenst Future and Women in Green Economics: Closing Gender Trench in Climate Jobs