Gender imbalance in the top tier of UK energy sector continues

Only 11 companies of the total 80 surveyed, met the criteria of having 30% female occupancy at board level

Gender imbalance in the top tiers of the UK power sector has raised concerns over insufficient female representation.

A recent report by the professional initiative POWERful Women and consultancy PwC studied the board member composition of 80 companies in the UK energy space.

It found that 38% of the UK’s top energy companies had no women members on their boards. Further, more than two-thirds of the firms lacked a single woman-occupied executive board seat.

Overall the study has noted a 5% and 7% increase in occupancy of board seats and executive board seats respectively by women, as compared to 2019.

Yet only 11 companies out of 80, matched the criteria of having at least 30% board seats filled by women.

Steve Jennings, Energy and Utilities Lead at PwC, said:“The progress being made by energy companies to improve gender balance on their boards is to be welcomed, but the pace of improvement makes it clear that there is a long journey ahead of us if 2030 targets are to be met.

“We are on the right path but companies will not want to delay adopting strategies and plans which enable talented women in the sector to be given the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

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