IUCN webinar: Increasing and retaining women’s participation in the renewable energy sector

This webinar is organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Gender Office, a member of LEDS GP.

Register here.

Women’s participation in the energy sector, including as technicians and decision makers, remains low. A recent World Economic Forum report calculates that women make up only 15% of the energy labor force. The reasons for women’s low participation in the sector relate to social stereotyping and the effect this has in early education stages, where girls are less likely to be encouraged to engage in activities that would later on increase their options for joining science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Moreover, once women join the labor force, they face a series of challenges to remain in the sector and later to rise into leadership positions. These challenges include the difficulty of maneuvering in a male-dominated sector, a lack of female role models and mentors, and labor conditions, such as long working days and a high number of required site visits to distant locations, which are not conducive or adaptable to women’s roles as caregivers at the household level.

With job creation on the rise, particularly in the renewable energy sector, it is fundamental to understand the challenges and opportunities women face to join and remain in the energy sector, particularly for those designing and implementing strategies that will encourage more women to join the renewable energy ranks.

Agenda

The webinar will be moderated by Ana Rojas of the IUCN Global Gender Office, and will include the following presentations:

• Increasing women’s participation in wind energy: How WoWE is tackling the challenge
  • Kristen Graf, Women of Wind Energy
• Women’s effective participation in the energy sector: Investing in women’s leadership skills
  • Ana Maria Majano, Consultant
• Engendering utilities: How companies are increasing women’s participation in their ranks
  • Ellen Dragotto, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

The GECCO team will be happy to provide you with our support prior to and during the webinar. For technical and communications/outreach questions, please contact Maggie Roth (maggie.roth@iucn.org). For content questions please contact Ana Rojas (ana_v_rojas@hotmail.com).

Register here.

Image credit: Asian Development Bank