Five Reasons It's a Great Time to be a Woman in the Oil & Gas Industry

By Jaymie Massey - celebrating 10
years in the oil & gas industry

This year I will celebrate two exciting anniversaries. Of course, the biggest and most important one is my 10-year wedding anniversary to the man of my dreams. But, there’s another life event that has altered who I am today and even the role model I am for my daughters.

After getting married, I moved from a small East Texas town to be with my new husband who was working as an engineer in Houston.  I remember thinking maybe this was my chance to live a lifelong dream of being a reporter for a big city newspaper.  Joining the oil & gas industry was never considered in those early days of looking for jobs in Houston.  Our realtor, who was trying to help us find a home in time for the start of the school year, had coincidentally been a recruiter for oil & gas companies. When she offered to help me find a job, I thought why not. I soon landed a job as a publications editor for a big oil & gas service company. One of the first things I did was apply for my first passport and trade designer heels for my first pair of steel toed boots. Soon I was on a plane traveling around the world gathering stories about people working on oilrigs in the middle of nowhere.  Nothing pulls you into another world faster than hearing people talk about what they do and why they love it.

Although we were outnumbered by men, I realized I was observing a phenomenon back in 2004.  Women were starting to enter the industry. More women than ever were bravely stepping into nontraditional roles to work alongside men who, for the most part, had never had to share space with a woman on a rig. From what I was observing, it wasn’t always easy for them. I decided to do a story about women in the oilfield for the company publication so I could meet more of these remarkable women and tell their stories. I remember visiting a base in outback Australia that you could only get to by air. From the air, it looked like a small desolate city and not how I imagined a more romantic version of Australia in my mind. On the ground, it was kind of like a desert. It was hot, dusty and I had to wear a net to keep the flies out of my mouth and nose. I wondered what woman in her right mind would want to work in these conditions for a month at a time.  I met not one, but two young women starting their engineering careers there. They told me how they wanted to break through barriers and achieve their dreams. I get that. They were pioneers. I had a desire to break through barriers too, only I was using words on paper to do it, w

hich suddenly didn’t seem as cool anymore.

I continue to meet women in this industry who I admire and who often amaze me. I meet them at work and through organizations like the Women’s Energy Network (WEN) in Houston. Women in this organization are some of the brightest professionals in the industry and membership is growing with chapters all over the country. They are a valuable support system to advocate for women and to help advance their careers in the energy industry. They also encourage hundreds of high school girls each year to make careers in the energy industry through the Young Women Energize program. This is why I’m a member.

Why do women need organizations like WEN? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by Rigzone in September of 2013, almost 50 percent of the U.S. oil & gas industry workforce is now made up of women.  Is this a trend? I think so. These are all signs pointing to why it’s a great time to be a woman in the oil & gas industry. Here are my five reasons why. What are yours?

1. Adventure – You can travel the world and get paid to do it. You may even find yourself in places tourists will never see. For me, I remember places like Songkhla, Thailand and Moomba, Australia where I met some of the most memorable people and had the most unique experiences.
2. Opportunity – It isn’t uncommon to see people entering the industry doing one job and following a path into something completely different and unexpected. I’ve even seen field engineers work their way up to become CEOs of billion dollar companies. And most importantly, I’ve seen women taking on more and more executive roles. Rigzone also reported there were 78,400 women working in America’s oilfields in 2012. That number was 48,899 +1 (me) in 2004.
3.  The people – Ask any oil & gas company what makes their company great and I am guessing that 99.9 percent will say it’s the people. They say it because it’s true. People in this industry are also very loyal. It’s an industry where people make lifelong friends and connections even among competitors. It makes for a small world where people are always passionate about what they do and share a camaraderie.
4.  Perspective – Women definitely bring a different perspective. I saw this many times when I would write articles for industry publications. I saw how women engineers not only helped solve problems, but they made their environment a better place. One man told me in a very remote location that the conditions at the base where they lived were almost unbearable. But, when women engineers entered the picture, the company renovated living quarters and recreation areas.
5. You are in demand and salaries are competitive – In the oil & gas industry you can sometimes earn a better paycheck than if you were doing the same job in other industries. According the U.S. Bureau of Labor in 2011, the median salary for a journalist was around $40,000. According to Rigzone’s salary tracker, the median salary for someone in the oil industry is around $90,000.

Follow me on Twitter @justjaymie