February 2019
As part of our Women's Energy Council, we are conducting interviews with our members to find out what their experiences are of working in the energy sector.

We sat down with Jennifer Bunor MBA from L.A.T.C Marine Limited. Here are her thoughts.

What attracted you to a career in the traditionally male-dominated energy sector?  

• Seeing other Women like Rolake Akinkugbe and other African Ladies doing amazingly well in the same field. Listening to their fascinating presentations and challenges, year after year at several conferences has been an inspiration for me.
• Encouragement from my supervisor at the time (2014) when I joined the firm.
• Personal interest in all things relating “energy” like main sources, alternate sources and how it affects the environment.

What obstacles have you had to overcome, as a woman, in your career in the energy sector?

Time management in relation to a personal balance. Time outside work hours to grow socially, network, run professional courses etc.

Do you believe that it is harder to have a career in the energy sector as a woman? Why?

Courtesy the media and stories shared by other colleagues in the industry, I hear how difficult it has been with regards to gender discriminations, work-life balance, access to the right education that guides a woman to her career and other such matters that could hurt/dampen a woman’s career. That said I do believe that “harder” also comes from the extra effort we have to put in as Ladies to surmount and surpass these bottlenecks.

Personally, I have experienced some of these struggles but choose not to hold on to this belief, however glaring it may be.

What do you think can be done to make it easier for more women to enter the energy sector at all levels? 

For the undergrads – I’m an advocate for catching the “women” young. So, I would think honing skills of younger ladies with interest in this sector, frequent career talks and job fairs at colleges, sponsored courses and increased internship offers.

For the Ladies 5 to 10 years in (like me) – I am fully convinced that maintaining a supportive network of like-minds like the Women’s Energy Council is highly recommended. Attending other gatherings to network and find out “what’s in” is also a great.

For the Ladies 10 years and up to C-level – Share wealth of their experience with peers and juniors, Champion women’s interest in the oil, gas and energy sector using all platforms. Encourage and support a healthy recruitment process for women so we can see, have and appreciate more C-suite Ladies than we do now.

If you could give one piece of advice to young women who are looking to work in the energy industry, what would it be?

I would say “Be tenacious in the pursuit of what interests you, always look for sources of information pertaining to the “energy” subject, use “some” of your social media to seek this information if they can afford to, draw strength from the fact that other women are doing exceedingly well and that you can too”