Industry study shows oil and gas development lacks gender diversity

Katie Colaneri

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Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

December 11, 2013 | 10:21 AM

Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY

A worker checks paperwork on the monkey board of a Cabot Oil & Gas drill rig in Kingsley, Pa.

A significant gender gap persists in the oil and gas industry, according to a new industry study.
More details from Reuters:

In the survey, based on 3,062 industry professionals, 11 percent were women. Some 62 percent of respondents said they believed the number of women working in the industry had increased in recent years, but 72 percent said it was still male dominated.
Twenty-three percent said it was doing a very poor or quite poor job increasing diversity, while 39 percent said it was doing a quite good or very good job.
Fifty-four percent believed women had equal opportunities for advancement to management positions, but discrimination and societal conditioning were seen as being among the main reasons for under-representation of women in the industry.
The survey was conducted by BP, the world’s fourth largest investor-owned international oil and gas company by market value, and Rigzone, the online oil and gas data resource.

Reuters reports BP claims women made up 32 percent of the company’s new hires in 2012, reflecting some improvement.
In Pennsylvania, a workforce survey released over the summer by the trade group the Marcellus Shale Coalition showed more than 75 percent of industry jobs were held by men last year. Overall, the number of state residents employed by the industry declined by 70 percent in 2012 compared to the prior year.