CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Energy workers are encouraging young women to pursue careers in the industry, following the results from a recent study conducted by the the American Petroleum Institute.
“We know in the next few years there’s going to be a ton of job vacancies that need to be filled and by nature of what the country looks like, if we do nothing, those jobs will go to more African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans and women,” said Tara Anderson, the director of External Mobilization for API, following a “Career Day” presentation at Captial High School in Charleston Wednesday.
Anderson said they spent all of 2014 studying women’s attitudes and perceptions of women who work in the industry. They have been presenting their findings to high school females across the United States.
“The biggest take away was that most woman have no idea of the vast variety of job opportunities available in oil and gas,” she said. “They think you have to be a petroleum engineer or a mud specialist. They don’t realize that you can be in legal, in politics, in real estate, in secretarial positions.”
Officials with API, Mountaineer Energy Forum, the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia and Energy Speaks Education are continuing to unveil their research nationwide in hopes to encourage women to chose a job in oil and gas, if they are interested in doing so.
“The fact to be able to come and demonstrate the variety of jobs available, to reinforce to the girls ‘the women power’ mantra. The fact that no matter what it is, you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it,” Anderson said.
An era can thrive not just because a person works in the industry, Anderson said, but there are also other industries that can benefit from oil and gas.
“Think about the barbers, the McDonald’s, the hotels and all kind of surrounding supplemental industries or companies,” she said. “If anybody thinks they truly live off the grid, 99.9 percent of them are wrong. Oil and gas touches everyone in some way.”
The initiative was presented at Capital Wednesday during the first week of school for a reason, principal Larry Bailey said.
“With new administration coming in, we wanted to start the year off with a bang,” Bailey said.
The most important thing was that he said he hopes the initiative opens doors for his students.
“We think that it’s going to be really positive. We hope that, especially (for) our juniors and seniors, it might help them choose their career path a little more wisely,” said Bailey.
The presentation included videos and open discussions about working in the oil and gas industry.
U.S. Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) was also in attendance to provide the opening remarks.