Energy is feminine – but only in the grammatical sense. A look at the management levels of energy companies reveals a masculine picture. Only one in ten executives in the energy industry is a woman. However, some dare to break this tradition. In the office, on the farm or at an offshore wind turbine: these women have chosen a career in the renewable energy industry .
Stefanie Lehmann works in the offices of a municipal utility cooperation in Hamburg - but that is about to change. As a project controller, she supports the technical management team for an offshore wind farm. Your goal is to also take on tasks offshore in the future. The business graduate gained professional experience at a mineral oil company and in the gas industry. Now she is relying on wind power: “Working in the oil and gas industry has shown me that the goal of our generation should be to pave the way to a sustainable energy supply.”
Exotic women in technical professions
Lehmann decided to pursue a career in the field of renewable energies. A step that relatively few women have taken so far. The energy industry is firmly in male hands - especially in the executive suites. The proportion of women in management positions at companies in the energy industry is 10.1 percent. In the renewable energy sector, the proportion of female managers is only 8.3 percent. This is shown by the study “Women in the Energy Industry” by the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“Unfortunately, the proportion of women in renewable energies as a technical industry is quite low,” says Joachim Gutmann, managing director of the Academy for Renewable Energies. “But this could soon change: in the master’s program in renewable energies offered by the academy, at least a fifth of the students are female.” Stefanie Lehmann is one of them. The technical course content did not deter the business graduate when choosing her further training: “In my professional career, I have always worked with engineers and acquired a lot of technical know-how, which I now want to put on a solid basis through the master’s degree.”
Successful in your own business
Mareike Lührs proves that when it comes to renewable energies, it doesn't always have to be a corporate career. In Schneverdingen, south of Hamburg, her father runs a farm with a 500-kilowatt biogas plant. After studying business administration, Lührs initially worked as a management consultant. Her workplace was only a few kilometers away from her parents' business. “I was always integrated into what was going on at the farm,” reports Lührs. “This gave me the idea of continuing the business one day.”
Ultimately, the woman from Lower Saxony made the decision to swap her business clothes for rubber boots and take over management of her parents' business. She also acquired the know-how necessary for working in the renewable energy industry as part of a part-time master's degree. “I was attracted by the idea of learning something completely new,” says Lührs. “However, at the beginning I was respectful of starting my studies as a non-engineer.”
“Looking back, all of our graduates were pleased that they were not deterred by the technical part of the course,” reports academy managing director Gutmann. “Because now they see the good career opportunities for women in renewable energies.”
info
The next year of the Master's program in Renewable Energy (M.Sc.) starts in October 2016. Prospective students can apply until July 15th. You can find further information at the Academy for Renewable Energy.
Author photo: Academy for Renewable Energy / Mareike Lührs
