Advancing women in engineering

In advance of International Women in Engineering Day on 23 June, Oil Review Middle East spoke to Ola Balbaa, wells engineer with bp and young professional member of the POWERful Women board, who shared her experiences and thoughts on advancing women in engineering roles

Can you give us a bit of background about your role, and how you came to get where you are today?

I studied Petrochemicals Engineering in Egypt, at Alexandria University, followed by an M.Sc. degree in renewable energy, doing a joint research scope between Alexandria and Kyoto University in Japan.

I then joined bp as a wells engineer in 2016, working offshore, and have been working in this role in the energy field for seven years now. During my career span, I worked offshore on deepwater harsh environment facilities for almost three years, then moved to an office-based role as a planning and execution wells engineer.

I have been able to obtain my leadership trust, steadily build a comprehensive knowledge in the field and reach out beyond that to expand my perspectives through different initiatives and volunteering opportunities. Currently I am part of the central wells discipline team looking after drilling operations in the North Sea region of the UK.

What are the main challenges you have experienced as a women engineer so far in your career, and how have you overcome them?

Working on offshore rigs is a harsh environment for both men and women; most challenges were around cultural acceptance of me as the only female engineer on a drilling rig of 160 men.

In this male-dominated and extreme work environment, my biggest challenge was to get the team’s trust to first learn and gain the knowledge I needed, then lead the team towards safe and efficient energy delivery.

My biggest success moment was when the old-school driller who refused to greet me every morning for six months of work on an onshore rig eventually came and shook my hand and said “I want my daughter to be like you”.

What do you think have been your main achievements, and what are your aspirations and ambitions for the future?

During my master’s degree studies I received the State's Encouragement Award in Science from Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, for my start-up project Wara2a (Paper), which was to produce paper ecologically without harming the trees or the environment. In 2018 I was nominated among the Top 50 Women in Egypt, an award given to influential female figures. I received the award from Dr.Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development. I have lectured and spoken at several energy conferences, such as ADIPEC, IADC and SPE, as well as diversity platforms in Egypt and the UK. I currently lead the Women in Wells group in bp and recently joined the board of POWERful Women as a Young Professional member. I was recently invited by the CBC media channel to speak about women working in harsh fields.

What do you think companies could do to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for women in engineering, and help them advance in the industry? 

POWERful Women recently released its Annual State of Nation report which reflects how the top UK energy companies are performing on gender diversity. Women are now in 34% of leadership and 32% of middle management roles in the UK energy sector and some companies are excelling and leading by example.

However, progress on women on boards – and particularly the key decision-making roles like CEO – has stalled. I believe that the most important steps come beyond the analysis, stats and numbers. As well as setting bold targets, companies need to understand and dive deeply into the gaps that women face in their day-to-day jobs, address them thoroughly and keep a safe follow-up communications channel to track progress through enablers like male allies and surveys.

How do you think young girls and women can be encouraged to pursue careers in engineering?

Through research and persistence, anyone can do anything! Don’t quit early, fail early. In other words, if it’s really what you want, do it and pursue it, don’t give up and don’t get discouraged because of stereotypes. And if you fail fast, you follow a progressive route where you learn faster and keep the momentum to develop.

What future do you see for women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and the opportunities on offer in these sectors?

The energy trilemma is a huge challenge and opportunity at the same time. The transition to net zero and a reliable and affordable energy system is going to require skills, innovation and leadership from people from all kinds of backgrounds. Research shows that greater diversity adds huge value to business performance when done in the right way.

As the sector transforms, there are huge and exciting opportunities for women with STEM skills of all kinds, whether they are just starting out or can bring them over from other industries where they’ve worked – it’s a fast-moving and thrilling time, and women pursuing STEM careers will continue to carry huge value to the energy industry.