As in the supply chain field, the gas and oil industry is facing a talent shortage as a generation of workers is set to retire. Women in the industry are coming together to change the fact that only 15 percent of their industry’s workforce is female, a number that drops in half when it comes to higher-paying technical jobs. A story on CNBC.com interviewed Katie Mehnert, CEO of Pink Petro, a for-profit company funded by Shell and others in the energy industry to focus on recruiting women.
According to the article, Katie created Pink Petro four years ago, after flying back to Houston. “I was sitting next to a gentleman,” she says, “and he said to me, ‘What’s a pretty young lady like you doing in a dark, dangerous business like oil and gas?'”
She identifies two keys to a successful effort to hire women. First, it’s just convincing women to apply at all. The second issue is that once women are hired, advancement can be tough. “The biggest barrier women face in the industry is visibility and access to what opportunities exist.”
The article interviews other women who have overcome the barriers and are succeeding in the industry.