Only 1 per cent women: Business group says offshore oil dominated by men

A group that represents female entrepreneurs in Newfoundland and Labrador is questioning why the offshore sector is made up almost entirely of men.

Paula Sheppard, the chief executive officer of the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE), made the comment Wednesday at a major oil and gas conference in St. John's.

"Obviously, as you can see from the attendance here at the conference, is that there aren't a lot of women in the oil and gas industry," said Sheppard.

"Globally it's about five per cent. We predict in Newfoundland and Labrador, it's about one per cent of the industry is represented by women."

Sheppard said one reason for that is that a lot of businesses owned by women are small and "don't understand how they can get into the supply chain for the oil and gas industry."

Women don't have the established networks that businesses owned by men have, she said.

Making those connections is one reason why a delegation from NLOWE attended the 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) conference.

Sheppard said members of her group work in fields such as ocean technology, health and safety and human resources.

"A lot of studies have proven that women-owned businesses are more innovative …They're more nimble, they can speed it up," said Sheppard.

​Trying to educate

NLOWE has a special project called Supplier Diversity NL, launched in June 2015, to help women owned businesses find opportunities in the natural resources sector.

While more women are entering university and trades programs such as engineering, she said "women are graduating at a higher rate, but they're not going into businesses at a higher rate, so we're going into the universities, into the schools to teach entrepreneurship at a younger age."

NLOWE is also trying to educate companies as well.

"We don't have the feeling that the men are trying to keep the women out. I think it's just that when you go with your suppliers and your networks, you go with the people you know," said Sheppard.

"The industry is a male-dominated industry and if they're looking to hire people like-minded, then that's what they're going to find."

Sheppard said NOIA is also supportive, and is working with her group to mentor women and create more opportunities for them.