The number of women attending the Offshore Technology Conference technical and keynote sessions has risen during this reporter's few decades of covering the annual event. Early career recollections of OTC do include seeing women elsewhere at the tradeshow—scantily clad while selling oil and gas equipment—but such sightings anymore are rare at best.
Men certainly still account for the overwhelming majority of audience members crowding into OTC's panel discussions, yet a quick glance of the 2014 schedule shows far more female names than did any OTC schedule from the downturn of the mid-1980s.
Leigh-Ann Russell, BP PLC vice-president of performance, global wells, gave a keynote speech for a 2014 OTC young professionals program called The Next Wave. Russell has 15 years of engineering and operational experience, including a stint as operations manager for BP's North Sea platforms.
Recruiting and retaining women in the oil and gas industry were topics discussed at an OTC Women in Energy Sharing Experiences (WISE) networking session. It marked WISE's third annual meeting.
WISE panelists included Donna Birbiglia, a Shell engineer and general manager, deepwater completions and well interventions; Gindi Eckel Vincent, counsel, ExxonMobil Corp.; and Lynne Hackedorn, Cobalt International Energy Inc. vice-president, government and public affairs.
Face time
Birbiglia, a 20-year offshore veteran, noted that female oil and gas executives can help other women trying to make their way in the industry.
"The challenge we have is being able to connect the women in the industry with one another," she said, noting that very few women work in the offshore well divisions of oil companies so consequently she looked to female geologists for support and to serve as role models for her.
She believes networking helps women measure their own accomplishments and gives them the confidence to advance in corporate leadership roles. Birbiglia said other women already established in the industry taught her the importance of promoting her own efforts.
"It's okay to tell people I'm doing well without being forceful or bragging, and I think the value of networking really helped me understand that better," she said.
BP hosted a May 6 event about accelerating women's careers in science and technology. That session included two BP executives: Felipe Bayon, BP America senior vice-president and head of global deepwater response, and Cindy Yeilding, vice-president of Gulf of Mexico appraisal.
Yeilding recounted how a former BP top executive asked her and a couple other women executives to talk with other BP female employees to learn how BP could do a better job of retaining women.
The key discovery from the conversations was the importance of women getting acquainted and supporting each other, Yeilding said. She advocates that women at BP reach out to one another to help accelerate careers.
Mentors, sponsors
Bayon said he has asked himself what role he can play in helping women and members of ethnic groups advance their individual careers. He noted that individuals need to understand it's their responsibility to network and to build relationships over time.
The protégé does about 70% of the work in a relationship with a mentor or business sponsor, panelists agreed. Yeilding said a business sponsor serves as a corporate advocate for someone while a mentor provides guidance about how to do one's job.
"You know who your mentors are, but sometimes you don't know who your sponsors are," she noted.
Bayon agreed, encouraging executives to explore the notion of moving from mentorship to sponsorship. "We're putting our necks out for somebody else," he said of sponsors who try to help others advance.
