Gender equity in the workplace is a defining issue of our time. Gender equity in the economy goes together with macroeconomic and financial stability, it can stimulate economic growth, boost private and public sector performance, and reduce income inequality.1
In the United States women’s workforce participation nearly doubled from 1950 (33%) to 2000 (60%).2 The gender wage gap–the difference in earnings between men and women in the workforce—narrowed significantly during the 1960s through the 1980s. These are impressive gains, but the narrowing of the gender wage gap has slowed in recent decades. Current estimates show that among full-time year-round workers, women earn approximately 18 to 20 percent less than men.3 The pay gap worsens with age.4
One reason for the stubborn persistence of the wage gap is occupational segregation, which occurs when one demographic group is overrepresented or underrepresented in a certain job category. Simply put, jobs that pay higher wages disproportionately employ white men, while lower-paid jobs disproportionately employ women, particularly women of color.5
What is the status of women in the workforce of the United States energy industry? The Department of Energy (DOE) has provided insight into this question with annual employment reports since 2016.6 These reports quantify the demographics of employment in five broad sectors: electricity generation; transmission, distribution, and energy storage (TDS); energy efficiency; fuels (coal, oil, ethanol, etc.); and motor vehicles.
The 2023 report indicates that women are significantly underrepresented in the energy industry workforce relative to the economy as a whole. Women hold just 27% of the jobs in the energy sector compared to nearly half in the overall economy. Relatively low participation rates by women are consistent across all energy sectors, ranging from a low of 24% in motor vehicles to a high of 33% in electricity generation.
But there are positive signs as well. The energy sector added nearly 300,000 jobs from 2021 to 2022, and women made up more than half of those new workers. From 2016 to 2021, women’s participation notably increased in the electric power, motor vehicle, and TDS sectors of the United States energy industry.
The DOE jobs report mirrors some of the findings of the global solar, wind, and hydropower industries. Surveys of those industries report low representation of women in positions of leadership, and STEM-related jobs, as well as disparities between men and women regarding perceptions of barriers to entry, retention, and promotion of women.
1 Gopinath, Gita, “Gender Equality Boosts Economic Growth and Stability,” Korea Gender Equality Forum, September 27, 2022, Link
2 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “Labor Force Participation Rate – Women,” Series LNS11300002, accessed December 6, 2023, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300002
3 Foster, Thomas B., Marta Murray-Close, Liana Christin Landivar, Mark deWolf, “An Evaluation of the Gender Wage Gap Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data, U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies, Working Paper Number CES-20-34, November 2020, Link
4 Almeida, Beth and Isabela Salas-Betsch, “Fact Sheet: The State of Women in the Labor Market in 2023,” Center for American Progress, Feb 6, 2023, Link
5 Zhavoronkova, Marina, Rose Khattar, and Mathew Brady, “Occupational Segregation in America,” Center for American Progress, March 29, 2022, Link
6 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Policy, “U.S. Energy & Employment Report 2023,” https://www.energy.gov/policy/us-energy-employment-jobs-report-useer
