Module 3

Introduction

Module 3 focuses on the experiences of female and male engineers and managers in multinational and local oil and gas companies. A particular emphasis is placed on the female employees in these organizations to discuss previous challenges, improvements, and existing issues that they still face today.

The oil and gas industry, according to McKinsey research (2019), has been struggling to attract younger people in a sector already facing issues of an aging workforce. One important method to combat this issue is to bring in and retain more women. However, only a third of entry-level employees in the industry are female, compared to the nearly half found in other STEM industries and the corporate sector as a whole. This number continues to fall as career levels progress. One research suggests that the reasons have to do with not enough women being promoted into management or promoted into senior-vice-president positions (Yanosek, Ahmad & Abramson, 2019).

The oil and gas industry in Qatar has come a long way since its early years. Much of the manual labor and dangers described in our last module are a thing of the past in today’s oil and gas fields. With the rapid growth of the industry and the need for an exponentially larger workforce, many of the employees of the oil and gas industry in Qatar today are foreigners. While the industry is still very male-dominated, the female workforce is on the rise.

A contributing factor to this is that, unlike in other countries, many female students in the Arab world are enrolled in STEM programs (Amani et al., 2021). In Arab countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, female engineering students make up more than double the U.S. national average (Study International Staff, 2019).

While the Arab world statistically has more female engineering students than in the U.S., many do not end up working in the oil and gas industry. Why? They are discriminated against almost every step of the way. It is because of this reason that the high number of female STEM graduates in Qatar, however, does not translate to adequate representation in the industry. Although the state of Qatar is committed to, “the nurturing of female engineers” (Ghani, 2016, p. 7), unfortunately this is not yet reflected in the industry. There are still barriers to entry and challenges that female professionals are facing in the industry.

Sara Amani and her colleagues (et al., 2021) explore the challenges encountered by female engineering graduates during recruitment in Qatar. They interviewed a total of 100 female alumnae from chemical, electrical and petroleum engineering programs from a Texas A&M University in Qatar. Gender bias, discrimination and sexism in the workplace have often been reported by women in every step of the job process –– whether during internships, interviews or full-time jobs. Gender bias and sexism –– both implicit and explicit –– were reported in Amani et al’s (2021) study by female engineering students and graduates. These implicit and explicit treatments included discriminatory and overly personal interview questions; biases and assumptions made by interviewers; and explicit discouragement and discrimination from interviewers and recruiters. A specific example includes a recruiter “making a suggestion” not to “come to this department” because of the job being a “very male job.” These treatments stemmed beyond the hiring process and continued to resurface during full-time employment (Amani et al. 2021).

 The challenges go beyond recruitment and hiring. When hired, female employees have reported being “sidelined into non-technical positions with limited opportunities to progress or to have influence” and continue to receive sexist treatment (both implicitly and explicitly) (Amani et al., 2021, p. 4). 

Our module explores firsthand experiences from 11 women and men with ties to the oil and gas industry. Our interviewees include field engineers, managers and an academic. Companies represented among our interviewees include QatarEnergy (formerly Qatar Petroleum, Shell, ConocoPhillips and BP). While most of our interviewees are in Qatar, some are located abroad and provide a unique ability to reflect on and compare their experiences in Qatar to where they are (or have been). The most prominent theme found among their experiences was the issue of gender inclusivity and the policies, regulations and culture that hinder the robust development of that.

In addition to an account of challenges faced by female professionals from our interviewees, a section on advice and aspirations for women entering the industry is also included. Our interviewees echo many of the suggestions laid out in a report created by the World Petroleum Council and The Boston Consulting Group (2017). This same report mirrors the sharp drop in the percentage of women in the industry’s workforce over career stages. The most common line of advice that our interviewees provided was the need for women to speak up, voice their opinions and openly ask for critical feedback. On a more practical level, the interviewees also aspire an industry that provides more support to women across all career levels, especially encouraging development into upper-management. Overall, both the industry and society as a whole need to recognize the benefit of having more women in the oil and gas world.

Challenges for Female Professionals in the Industry

The Oil and Gas industry in Qatar has witnessed remarkable progress over the past 20 years in terms of new technologies (like GTL, LNG etc.) and a new dimension to the sector, i.e., the rise of the energy sector in Qatar. Nonetheless, the gender imbalance still remains as one of the constant challenges in the industry. This is very specific to the female employees and professionals in their respective fields as they look at the higher positions offered to male employees most of the time. There is also a lack of adequate accommodations made for females offshore and even onshore.

The most common theme that our interviewees shared that shed light on the problems of gender inclusivity in the industry are low number of recruitment and promotions of female employees. Other challenges mentioned of working in a male-dominated industry include gender bias, difficulties in balancing work and personal life, as well as cultural and social barriers. Focusing specifically on Qatar, the stance on females working in technical sectors of the Oil and Gas industry, namely working offshore or on rig sites is still not very attractive.

Where we have these strong females, we were also told of certain experiences that one of our interviewees shared about being the only woman among 130 men. Maryam Al-Bishri recalls how hard it was for her to get men to respect her for who she is and hard work she put in to attain the position she currently holds. This is another challenge that the females in the industry most commonly face due to the heavily male dominated nature of the industry. Here is where she emphasizes on the need of more females in the industry, specifically where she was working and strongly recommends changing the negative connotation people have for independent women.

Dr. Hanan Farhat tells of her struggles to pursue engineering degrees because of strong opposition from her father (Qatar Foundation, 2020).  However, none of the female interviewees reported similar experiences as the one Dr. Farhat recounts.  They, in fact, commended the support they received from their family when they wanted to study engineering. In their workplaces, despite the lack of operational issues like transportation, unplanned shutdowns, and daunting accommodation problems, many companies (local and international) have reviewed their company policies to encourage female employees to visit offshore.

Most often, vital amenities have been overlooked that allow women to work comfortably with job security. A Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suit is meant to minimize the exposure to any hazards as a result of contact with chemical, radiological or electrical substances. If it is not designed to fit an individual, the purpose fails. This was another common challenge faced mainly by female workers, specifically for women wearing hijab. Maryam Manojahri who is the Area Maintenance Manager, recalls how she received this specific remark, “Are you a Qatari? Like You’re a pure pure Qatari?” when she wore the harness and PPE suit. But in some places, the PPE has been modified to suit this need. Ms. Lama, an employee of Qatar Shell praises the company policies in Indonesia for recognizing the need for a differently designed PPE to accommodate a hijab.

Ms. Lama discusses another challenge regarding pay gap due to gender differences as well as limitations on the travel of females alone. She elaborates how some companies’ policies don’t allow females to travel without a mahram (blood relative like brother, father, son, uncle etc.). This is not the case for males.  But there are also some gender imbalances for males too. For instance, the chances for male workers to receive paternity leave are slimmer than for female employees to get maternity leave.  This was brought up when one of our male interviewees addressed this difference with respect to the same emotions that both genders have, i.e., wanting to spend time with their newborn and help their spouses with the same.

While many female employees shared good experiences with their managers, there were few who felt a lack of their manager’s appreciation. Ms. Ghaida Al-Farsi, a former employee of Schlumberger and currently working in BP, Oman, points out how in her first job she was told that she will leave within a month. She narrates how exhausting her work life working until 10 pm and awful work timings.  She was also surprised when her manager came home at 3 am at one point to collect some papers which made her so uncomfortable. Ms. Ghaida is now a part of BP - Young Adventurers - that advocates for young girls to join the field. She also acknowledges how BP Oman has decent facilities for females going offshore such as flying by airplane.

Although it has been seen that the recruiting rate of males is much higher than females, Amit Singh, the General Manager of Schlumberger, Qatar, encourages the diversity of age, gender, nationality, language and a culture of inclusivity while ensuring no discrimination at workplaces. One of his key suggestions for bringing a change in the industry is to increase the number of females in management roles.

Tabarak Abdulhussein, a reservoir engineer at Schlumberger herself agrees with what Mr. Singh said. She appreciates how “Qatar has a lot of support for females, and everybody (male colleagues) are willing to help.” She mentioned that the industry was initially not built to accommodate females in rigs; onshore or offshore. “But they need the huge numbers to start working on creating accommodations.” Tabarak compliments how Schlumberger is highly pro-female and has female engineers who work as technicians, work on site, accounting and sales sector, finance, and marketing etc. There are companies that have been encouraging females to work offshore, such as OXY and Schlumberger who support the pro-female vision, since the industry is now seeing a rise in female engineers.

The oil and gas industry is still heavily male dominated as attested by one of the interviewees Ms. Lama Al-Oreibi. But that does not necessarily mean females cannot be a part of the industry or females don’t have a scope in the industry. Ms. Lama has further stated, “Studies have shown that bringing more females into the workplace will increase financial profits.” Maryam Manojahri discusses how the maintenance department is fully male dominated and only one female technician is a part of the team who reports to another manager. Four female and two male interviewees also believe that females are better at multitasking and hence it is important to have females in the industry because of their supporting skills, competency, and the ability to patiently wait, listen and then act on a plan. Having a general manager lay importance on diversity at workplace and female inclusivity is a motivation many female engineers aspire to have. “Bringing a diversity of age, gender, nationality, language, allows us to be a lot more effective and solving problems in a smart way versus having only one way of thinking”, says Mr. Amit Singh, who also believes that females have an element of trust which was proven from a study they had conducted.

The industry has come a long way from what it was once, but it still has a long way to go for the world to witness dramatic and significant changes with respect to females working in the industry. Concerns regarding daunting workload, operational issues, sexist remarks, accommodation facilities offshore and hiring more female employees in the male-dominated industry are few of the many challenges that are yet to be worked on. Complimenting the need for cultural mindset change alongside supportive company policies, the industry will eventually witness a remarkable difference in the working sector.

Advices and Aspirations

One of the common pieces of advice received from all the interviewees for all future female engineers is to always voice out your opinion and ask for critical feedback. One’s career growth highly depends on their technical competency and soft skills. As the General Manager of Schlumberger Qatar, Amit Singh, says it, “Dare to dream”; most of the female interviewees also represent the same thoughts, i.e., to continue working hard and make the most of all the opportunities coming your way. Progressing further in your career demands the need to grow competent in the technical aspects of your job and staying united and connected with other female colleagues.

To be able to do that, Mariam Al-Meer advice to female engineers is, “maintain the interest that drove you to study STEM/petroleum in the first place and use that to motivate yourself to keep working hard and learning more as you progress in your career”. However, one also needs to be fully aware about the technical aspects of their job and the technical part associated with the job should be their first priority, as advised by Todd Creeger, the business unit president at ConocoPhillips. He further says, “You need to be able to understand the technicalities well, in order to then be competent in operations”. Ms. Tabarak also encourages female engineers to grow their technical competencies and network early on. Additionally, gaining technical experience is possible through hands-on internship programs. As advised by Ms. Maryam Manojahri, “Internships are a great place to learn, experience the industry and prove your capabilities and then give your best to get a job offer.”

The interviewees also shared their thoughts on how the gender imbalance in the industry can be mitigated, by advising the industry to become more inclusive. In the industry, it is important for the environment/workplace to be inclusive in order to promote and attract inclusivity, as put forward by Ghaida Al-Farsi who said, “Inclusivity and equality should not be based on the need for quota to be met.” As per Lama Al-Oreibi, it is the policy changes, be it HR or government policies, that need to happen in order to encourage and grow inclusivity in the industry. This is where COVID-19 played a positive role by forcing companies to reconsider their policies, as mentioned by Tabarak, who gave examples of female employees in her company having the freedom for flexible work hours and even for special circumstances such as looking after her sick children. Dr. Dhabia and Ms. Manojahri also encouraged the concept of flexibility in working remotely as COVID-19 did prove that female employees working from home with reduced commute time, were efficient at their work, while managing their personal commitments.

In an effort to promote gender equality, Todd Creeger mentioned that his company has been making efforts to be more accommodating by providing flexibility and a realistic plan for the female employees to return to work after maternity leave. Mariam Al-Meer advised companies to be more accommodating to the added commitments a woman has (i.e. pregnancy, caring for a child, etc.) and allowing them to still grow and have a career path even though they have those added commitments. One of the reasons why there are so few female managers, according to Lama Al-Oreibi is, “There needs to be more policies that enable women to have a work and life balance. Right now, many females in the industry often dissipate in the middle management level because it’s hard for them to balance life and work and also to retain work after taking leave for family reasons”. Thus, flexible work hours add to the advantage of female engineers without having a negative impact on work efficiency.

As a female engineer in the workplace, Ms. Maryam Al-Bishri strongly advocates fearlessly reporting any sexist and discriminatory remarks to higher authority officials whom you may be comfortable sharing with.  She further advised, “Support one another (females) and make sure to represent females well in the way you work and manage.” This is crucial for females in the workplace as it is built up on the fact that female engineers earn a job/position based on their merit and work as mentioned by Ghaida Al-Farsi. Thus, receiving discriminatory comments should not be tolerated and females need to ensure that their work efficiency does not compromise on the representation of females. Another female interviewee highly advised female engineers to learn to put physical boundaries while working in a heavily male-dominated workplace. Since it is common for female engineers to be working with men mainly, Mariam Al-Meer said, “She didn’t have much of an issue with working with mostly male colleagues and her main focus was just ensuring that she worked with competent and knowledgeable colleagues. She had a good (male) coach in the beginning of her career that helped her grow.”

The oil and gas industry in Qatar has started taking steps to accommodate female engineers especially offshore. The interviewees encouraged female engineers to not shy from asking questions, raising concerns, and receiving critical feedback. Dr. Dhabia Al-Mohannadi says, “Seek help whenever required. Speak your mind and never shy away from your personality.” Lama Al-Oreibi and Tabarak, both share a common piece of advice, “don’t be afraid of seeking advice, asking questions or for help.” Seeking help or asking questions plays an important role in ensuring one’s dedication and commitment to deliver quality work. Ms. Manojahri also states that the oil and gas industry needs to improve more on diversity and inclusiveness (DNI). The experiences of all the interviewees has proven that technical competency is crucial, but for a positive career growth, it is important to let yourself out of your comfort zone and push yourself to achieve what you are capable of. These not only help understand your progress, but it is important for seeing the changes/growth as you advance in your career. “If I don’t get feedback, I can never be successful”, says Mr. Amit Singh, who strongly advised female engineers to ask for honest critical feedback as it helps one to make good decisions, grow and improve in their career. Maryam Al-Bishri says, “Taking feedback on what you are doing, how you are progressing is important for seeing changes/growth.” However, Ghaida Al-Farsi further advised women to not be discouraged by people who give snarky or belittling comments.

A common advice from all interviewees to future female engineers is to grow their technical competencies in the early stages and to recognize the opportunities presented during the early stages of your career. In Ms. Maryam Al-Bishri’s words, “seek opportunities and take opportunities.” Ask for opportunities that are not offered and try taking challenges and learning from them without being afraid. One of the female interviewees strongly asserted on the importance of taking care of one’s mental, physical, and spiritual health and not let the work environment lower your confidence. To make the industry more accommodating for female engineers, a common suggestion by the interviewees was to encourage female mentorship programs, flexibility with working hours and have more female role models. There is a need to change the negative connotation for independent women and make the industry pro-female.