Women’s Energy Network: Calling All High School Girls – The Energy Industry Wants You!
Career plans are often the last thing on the minds of high school seniors, but on Nov. 5 the Women’s Energy Network of Houston (WEN) will bring the topic front and center at its 4th Annual Young Women Energized event. The program is designed to encourage young women to attend college and pursue careers in energy by engaging them with professional women working in the industry today. For the first time, the organization will also be awarding five $1,000 college scholarships to students who opt to pursue a degree in a field related to the oil and gas industry.
The event will be held at the HESS Club near The Galleria, and is organized in a roundtable format where the high school students select two areas of interest and are matched with women working in that field. Representatives from companies such as Chevron, Shell, BP and Conoco Phillips will be on hand to discuss the industry and careers in a variety of disciplines including geology, engineering, law, public relations, accounting, trading and environmental studies.
“A recent survey conducted by Business Week magazine1 found an ‘intense desire to hire young graduates’ among America’s top companies,” said WEN president Kate MacDougall, who is also Director of South Texas Gathering, Enterprise Products, L.P. “Couple that with the unprecedented growth in energy consumption expected through 2030, and the opportunities for young women to find rewarding careers in the industry are greater than ever.”
“Through the Young Women Energized program, we want to make Houston high school students aware of the myriad opportunities available to them in what I believe is one of the most dynamic and high-growth industries in the world today,” added MacDougall.
In its 2007 survey of upstream U.S. energy companies, Grant Thornton LLP – global accounting, tax and business advisory service provider – found that 81 percent expect oil and gas industry employment to increase in the coming years, while 69 percent expect to encounter difficulties hiring and retaining employees in 2007 in the coming year.
While students engage in the roundtable discussions with industry professionals, parents attending the event will have the opportunity to meet representatives from various colleges, such as Texas A&M University, the University of Houston and the University of Oklahoma.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) will also have its Interactive Technology Exhibit — a display highlighting the technologies used by oil and natural gas companies to find resources more efficiently and precisely – on display at the event.
Sponsors of the Young Women Energized event include BP, Cogenta Energy, Contract Land Staff, El Paso, HESS Corporation, Marathon and Williams.
1 Lindsey Gerdes, “The Best Places to Launch a Career,” Business Week Sept. 24, 2007
ABOUT WEN
Women’s Energy Network is a non-profit association of women professionals in the energy industry providing networking and community outreach opportunities and fosters career and leadership development. Founded in 1994, the organization has more than 500 members in the Houston area. To find out more, please visit the WEN website at www.wenhouston.org.