Today, a relatively small percentage of jobs in heavy industries are occupied by women. Nevertheless, research shows that the number of women joining the energy workforce has increased over the past years.
According to UNESCO and based on a study conducted in 2015, 60% of the engineering students in some universities in the GCC are women, compared to 30%Â in the United States and Europe. Despite these optimistic figures, there is still a clear gap between the number of women who acquire an engineering education and those who pursue a career path within engineering related fields across the GCC countries.
Despite the current under-representation of women’s capabilities and competencies in many engineering industries, Asset Integrity Engineering (AIE) considers gender parity within the establishment essential to achieve a better performance, a more engaged workforce, and higher retention rates.
United Arab Emirates based AIE is a provider of asset integrity management and engineering services, which holds long-term integrity service contracts with a range of clients across the Middle East and North Africa, covering both onshore and offshore installations. AIE services improve operational reliability, safety and asset protection whilst at the same time helping to maximise plant performance and mitigate the constant challenges and hazards facing heavy industry.
At AIE, 44 percent of the workforce are women, a further proof that AIE embraces women’s capabilities and role in the workforce. AIE is fortunate to have a growing number of female role models who are handling various careers. Positions occupied by women within AIE’s different departments vary widely. Women are currently working as project managers, team leaders, contract managers, engineers, technical assistants and junior-level engineering assistants. This supports the fact that there is no longer a ‘typical profession’ or a ‘suggested career track’ for the female professionals.
AIE’s impressive annual client satisfaction results are evidence that a women’s role in integrity services is effective.
AIE’s vison for how integrity management should be practised differs from many of its competitors who still view the service as an inspection-based process, which has historically been dominated by men.
AIE’s mission is to ‘develop the market we serve’ and the company sees women’s role crucial to achieve this objective. AIE’s view is that women bring a different skill set, which if harnessed and applied in the right areas, can deliver exceptional results for the client’s business via a more holistic approach.
