Pictured are participants in the Meeting on Improving Gender Balance in Nuclear Power
In recent years, many countries have made strides in increasing the representation of women in leadership positions, encouraging female entrepreneurship and encouraging large numbers of young women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Nuclear Energy Agency has begun to address this issue in its activities, and as a consequence, industry organizations have also turned their attention to the topic. Nevertheless, gender gaps still persist in many countries, and particularly in nuclear energy.
As of today, Russia has a National Strategy of Action for Women 2017-2022, approved by Government Order No. 410-r of March 8, 2017.
In 2018, ROSATOM and its organizations employed 255,400 people (including 1,800 in foreign organizations), of whom 34% were women and 66% were men.
Women occupy 30% of management positions at ROSATOM, which is higher than the global average of 24% (Grant Thornton 2018) and industry-wide - the share of women in the global energy sector is 11% (The Global Energy Talent Index, 2019). The same 30% share of women in the industry is also in Rosatom's managerial talent pool program. 150 female inventors work for ROSATOM, which is about 10% of the total number of industry patent authors. Angelika Khaperskaya, senior manager of the Project Office of Rosatom State Corporation (co-founder of the Women in Nuclear Industry Association Foundation), spoke about this issue and activities of the Women in Nuclear Industry Association Foundation as part of her report "Strategy and Practice of Implementation of Gender Policy in Russia in Nuclear Industry". As part of the report the Russian side also presented its proposals for further cooperation in improving gender balance in the nuclear power industry:
Conducting international seminars and meetings on sustainable development of nuclear power with the involvement of Russian and foreign women speakers Aim to present the role of nuclear technologies in achieving sustainable development goals ("Inexpensive and Clean Energy", "Combating Climate Change", "Industrialization, Innovation and Infrastructure", "Eradication of Poverty", "Good Health and Wellbeing"), value of scientific and technological progress and innovation, positioning nuclear power as a clean basis for future energy.
International nuclear mentoring seminars under the auspices of the OECD NEA for women who have chosen a career in the nuclear industry Objective - popularization of scientific and technical professions among women, assistance in increasing prestige of women's professions in the nuclear industry in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals ("Gender Equality", "Decent Work and Economic Growth"), stimulating growth of professional competencies, representing the role of specialists in the effective development of global nuclear industry and new generation nuclear technologies, broad involvement of young female generation into the industry.
Transformation of the Russian project "Women's Faces of the Nuclear Industry" into an international project and its implementation on the basis of the OECD NEA. The goal is to position women's professional potential as an effective resource for the development of the nuclear power industry by showcasing the successes, scientific and technical achievements and career opportunities of women specialists from different member countries.