RECRUITING WOMEN TO NUCLEAR | SUPPLY CHAIN


of respondents said visibility is ‘widespread’, but this also varied with age – those over 54 agreed more than younger women. And just 37% overall said there are female role models and mentors in their workplace. Responses to other workplace culture questions –


such as management’s commitment to gender balance, opportunities for career advancement, effective development programmes and fairness in performance appraisals – showed wide geographical variation, with employees in Northern Europe and North America and at certain types of workplaces (international organisations, regulators, academic institutions, fuel cycle organisations) tending to respond more positively. And to a question about whether career opportunities are equal, just 40% of respondents identifying as members of a minority group said they were. Part of the widespread perception of gender inequality


may be due to 71% of respondents believing that pregnancy negatively impacts career trajectories, including promotions. Just 44% of survey respondents believed the impact of parenthood was the same for women and men, falling to 35% among women belonging to minority groups. Encouragingly though, menopause was not generally seen as having a career impact.


Looking ahead As the report puts it, ‘much remains to be done to achieve a workforce representative of society that is able to make best use of all available talent.’ However, if things continue as they are, the report would seem to show that the nuclear sector’s gender imbalance will not be altered soon, or possibly ever. Without improvement, the authors say, the current women’s recruitment rate of 29% cannot effect much change in the longer term. The problems undoubtedly lie deeper in society than the nuclear sector, which has already implemented numerous programmes and initiatives – reported by the survey respondents as in place and ongoing at their organisations – to try to address them. Overall, the report points out, nuclear’s gender diversity is still about the same as that of other engineering-focused sectors, with an overall gender balance that includes many non-technical roles and thus papers over a serious imbalance in the central technical areas. And, while nuclear workplaces may appear to treat women and men equally, the report showed that women lack confidence in management’s commitment to creating inclusive working environments, encouraging career development (and mitigating the impacts of parenthood and family on career paths), and improving gender balance. Given all of this, what can be done to address the


many underlying issues? What the authors term a three- pillar ‘Attract, Retain and Advance’ Framework in relation to female nuclear sector employees is the report’s recommendation for addressing current challenges: Attract women into the sector; Retain and support them in the workforce; Advance and develop them as leaders and enhance their contributions within the workplace. To attract more women into nuclear sector roles (and in an acknowledgment that the underlying problem reaches well beyond the nuclear sector), the report first recommends public communications campaigns promoting gender balance. These campaigns would be designed to change perceptions about gendered careers, and to promote STEM and nuclear science and technology as


careers for girls and women. Next, and in the same vein, the authors recommend educational initiatives aimed at encouraging girls to pursue STEM studies. Gender-balancing recruitment and hiring processes – including implementing policies to identify and eliminate barriers to women’s hiring – follow. Recommended are targeted recruitment campaigns; adopting gender-neutral selection criteria; and ensuring pay parity through regularly reviewing policies, practices and outcomes. Once hired, women in the nuclear workforce must be


retained and supported. The report recommends offering increased flexibility, such as flexible teleworking, to support employees with family responsibilities; offering childcare in the workplace; offering attractive parental and family leave policies; and supporting employees returning from such leave while mitigating its effects on career and pay progression. One sector-specific idea recommends examining the need for non-standard hours in nuclear roles, particularly in operations, and how they relate to career advancement. Alternate career pathways should be offered, the report says, if an employee is unable to work during these hours. In order to eliminate harassment, build inclusive workplaces, and address stereotyping and unconscious bias, the report recommends inclusivity training, targeted strategies promoting diversity, and independent assessments to identify negative patterns. HR policies and career development programmes, among others, should be regularly assessed to root out unequal impacts. Unconscious bias training as well as inclusivity training for all, and especially for those responsible for hiring and promotion, is next on the recommendations list, followed by leadership and career-advocacy training for female staff, and training for managers on how to encourage diverse staff to advance their careers. To address management’s perceived lack of commitment


to gender equity, the report recommends that executive- and manager-level compensation be linked to quantifiable objectives promoting gender balance. “Executives and managers should be responsible for improving gender balance and building an inclusive work culture,” the authors state. In order to advance and develop women as leaders, the


report says, regular national surveys should be conducted and should include information on salaries, pay rises, bonuses and promotions, career development participation (especially in training programmes leading to promotion to management or executive) and the impacts of family leave on career progression. Organisations should put in place policies on gender balance, including pay equity and parental leave, and should share examples of success and best practice. Whether this framework, if implemented – and keeping in mind that such implementation depends on budget constraints, workplace cultures and much more – will result in a significant shift in nuclear-sector workplace gender balance is difficult to say, as despite the sector’s best efforts the deeper societal problems which underlie the current imbalance fall outside its scope. But as William Magwood, NEA Director-General, said in his preface to the report, “The moment is ripe to realise the nuclear field’s full potential as a diverse, creative home for the world’s brightest minds, whose gender and backgrounds reflect the societies that it serves.” ■


www.neimagazine.com | August 2023 | 37


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49