Lessons from Engendering Industries’ partners, DELSUR and SENELEC

Men hold 78 percent of jobs and occupy most technical roles in the global energy sector. Many companies overlook the importance of attracting new female talent and do not use recruitment strategies that diversify the talent pool, which can improve business performance. Understanding the size of the existing female talent pool in a particular labor market is a critical first step in creating effective outreach and recruitment strategies to increase the number of women in technical roles. But gathering data on the gendered breakdown of technical staff in a specific industry can be challenging. While some sex-disaggregated labor force statistics are available from organizations like the International Labour Organization and the World Bank, the data are often outdated or not sector-specific, limiting their tactical value.

This case study illustrates how Engendering Industries collaborated with its partners in El Salvador and Senegal to collect, analyze, and use labor market data to advance gender equality in talent outreach and recruitment efforts in the energy sector.