New data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows women account for only 19% of renewable energy senior leadership positions globally and almost half of the women surveyed report some form of gender-based discrimination in the workplace.
October 8, 2025
Women hold around 32% of full-time jobs in the global renewable energy industry, according to a new report published by IRENA. Participation was higher for women in part-time jobs, at 39%.
The report looked at women’s role in renewable energy, examining the barriers to women’s entry, advancement and retention in the workforce. It also identified solutions.
The “Renewable Energy: A Gender Perspective” is informed by a global survey by IRENA that was circulated online from 8 March 2024 through the end of the year. It received a total of 1,421 responses. Of these, 1,192 were responding as individuals, while 233 responses were submitted by organizations. Overall, 119 nations globally were represented.
The survey found that women are better represented than men in support roles and underrepresented in decision-making roles. Senior leadership and scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) roles are male-dominated. The same is true of roles requiring technical certifications or vocational training, such as installers, machine operators, electricians and construction workers.
Women tend to be better represented in non-STEM and administrative roles and account for only 19% of senior leadership positions.
Women’s roles in the renewable energy industry also vary depending on the type of organization, with private enterprises recording a low share – just 25% – of women employed full time.
Among non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and government agencies working on project development, as well as services, operations and maintenance, women’s share of employment is 35%.
Gender discrimination in the workplace varied by region, with respondents from Latin America and the Caribbean reporting higher levels of experience of gender discrimination (55%), whereas the results for other regions were similar to or below the global average.
Respondents with more professional experience tended to experience higher levels of gender discrimination, but this could be because they have been working for longer. Overall, almost half of the women working in renewable energy face some type of gender discrimination.
In developing countries, women are less likely than men to enroll in technical and vocational education and training programs for the renewable energy sector and in STEM fields, while women are well-represented in the graduate and postgraduate demographics, their route to employment on completing education is often less assured – a phenomenon known as “leaky pipeline.”
More mentoring, more women role models and more targeted outreach programs are needed, the report recommends. Government-based schemes and national programs for specific regions were also identified as a key solution by IRENA’s report. Flexible working arrangements and accommodation for childcare need to be implemented to retain women in the workforce and mentorship and outreach programs are needed in order to attract women to the industry.
Although the renewable energy industry performs better than other energy industries for representation of women, the report finds not much progress has been made to improve conditions since the last report was published in 2019.
“Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector depends on robust data, targeted policy interventions and active collaboration of all stakeholders,” IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. “The sector still has a lot of work to do. To realize the energy transition’s full potential, women must be recognized as equal partners and leaders in shaping the renewables-based future.”
The authors of the report specified that they used the term gender to refer to men and women. Respondents were offered a third choice – ‘other’ – to select in the survey, but only three individuals selected it, which the authors did not judge as sufficient to warrant putting their answers in a separate category.
Many (44% for organizations; 42% for individuals) identified themselves as “all renewables,” while respondents who specified they were in solar PV amounted to 14% and 7% respectively for both categories.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
