ELMHURST ENERGY MATTERS EDITION 7.qxp_Layout 1 12/08/2021 11:39 Page 6
Energy Matters | Issue 7 | 2021
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F E AT U R E www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk
Championing Women in Energy Efficiency I regularly attend industry events and training courses and know from my own experience there are often very few other women in attendance and we all seem to gravitate towards each other. Elmhurst Energy has always prided itself on being industry leaders in all areas and being the best scheme to support our members. With this in mind, we have been looking into: n Fiona Wilson, Business Development Manager
It will come as no surprise to learn that women are underrepresented in the energy efficiency industry. Only 13% of Elmhurst members in England and Wales are women, with the percentage falling to 11.5% for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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Why there are so few women How we can support our female members How we can encourage new female entrants into the industry.
To better understand the experiences of our female members we sent out a questionnaire to get their take on the industry, what brought them into it, and the hurdles they've faced. We received an overwhelming number of responses to the questionnaire, and this has helped us shape our next steps. Our respondents highlighted that the flexible nature of the job suited them and it was a good role to move into when changing careers. They also highlighted a desire for networking and social media forums for women to discuss any concerns or suggestions to make the job easier, in particular around the safety aspect of lone working or
entering homes/businesses by themselves. The final point raised was around advertising and imagery, how we present to members, and how we advertise as an industry. We will be looking at this going forward and promoting more inclusive language and images. We have now held our first Forum event for women, giving us a chance to talk through some of these ideas with our members and we will be looking to hold more of these going forward, as well as looking at social media forums for assessors. Having a more balanced industry, whether it be around gender, race, religion or age (the latter of which is another factor we need to consider as an industry), will help us all develop and grow to provide a more varied outlook, and will of course benefit customers. We look forward to continuing our work with all of our existing members, and we greatly appreciate the feedback we have had, and the feedback that we will get in the future. This all helps shape the scheme for our members, to provide the best support and a more equal working environment.
