This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives the voice to Olga Kovalchuk, Head of Finance and Investments – Managing Director at Germany’s Goldbeck Solar. She says the under-representation of women in STEM fields is impacting the pipeline of women entering both the renewable and traditional energy sectors, although this is gradually improving thanks to more targeted education initiatives. “The gender pay gap is ever-present and given the extent to which pay is linked to performance in senior roles, under-representation has a knock-on effect on the gender pay gap in the sector,” she said.
After moving from Ukraine to Germany, I started my professional career at the German energy agency Dena in Berlin and later at the United Nations in New York, United States. Both organizations acted as catalysts, demonstrating the crucial role of women in driving sustainable development and promoting gender-inclusive energy policies. Now I work in the private sector at the German company Goldbeck Solar and am responsible for group-wide mergers and acquisitions and financial transactions around the world. In addition, I became director of Goldbeck Solar Investment Ukraine, a joint venture between Goldbeck Solar Investment and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which aims to realize up to 500 MW of solar energy projects in Ukraine in the coming years. three to five years. Both positions represent examples of the key role of women in the energy sector.
The renewable energy industry generally has a higher female participation rate compared to traditional energy industries such as oil, gas and coal. In those sectors, the total participation rate is around 20% and even drops to 15% when it comes to field positions. In the total renewable energy sector, the participation rate is closer to 32%. The renewable energy sector is relatively young and growing rapidly, providing more opportunities to implement modern diversity and inclusion practices from the ground up rather than changing established cultures and practices.
Despite the higher participation rate, women are still largely a minority in the sector. This is especially the case for leadership positions where women are still highly underrepresented. Additionally, there are still issues associated with workplace culture, including unconscious bias and a lack of supportive policies for work-life balance. In this regard, mobile work policies are extremely beneficial for women as it gives them more freedom of choice over their time. Finally, the underrepresentation of women in STEM subjects is impacting the flow of women into both the renewable and traditional energy sectors, although this is gradually improving thanks to more targeted education initiatives.
Many of the previously mentioned challenges for the sustainable energy sector are repeated in the financial and investment sector. Underrepresentation is again one of the biggest concerns, with women holding only around 20% of senior positions, a figure that is even smaller for the investment industry. The gender pay gap is ever-present and given the extent to which pay is linked to performance in senior roles, under-representation has a knock-on effect on the gender pay gap in the sector.
There are several actions that can be taken to increase women’s participation in this sector. As previously mentioned, given that the sector is relatively young and growing, there is an opportunity to implement modern diversity and inclusion practices from the ground up. Moreover, policy can play an important role here. Promoting gender equality in the renewable sector and working with organizations and governments can ensure that renewable energy projects take gender considerations into account. Finally, targeted education and outreach programs designed to encourage women to enter the STEM field, including scholarships, mentorship programs and career development initiatives, will have a long-lasting impact.
Olga Kovalchuk joined Goldbeck Solar Group in September 2019. She is responsible for mergers and acquisitions and structured finance within the group and is Managing Director of Goldbeck Solar Investment Ukraine, a joint venture with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Ukraine. She has more than 15 years of international experience in mergers and acquisitions, finance and business development in Europe, Latin America and Central Asia in the field of wind and solar energy infrastructure. She has worked at organizations such as Vattenfall, Sowitec United Nations and the German energy agency dena, and holds a master’s degree in international business administration from the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany.
Interested in participating Olga Kovalchuk and other female leaders and industry experts at Women in Solar Europe? Find out more: www.wiseu.network
Popular content
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the author pv magazine.
This content is copyrighted and may not be reused. If you would like to collaborate with us and reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
