Members of the NEA Task Group on Improving the Gender Balance during a meeting in Paris, France, in October 2023.
Gender balance has considerable implications for the future of nuclear energy, which needs a robust and diverse workforce to drive performance and innovation. NEA data shows that women are only one-quarter of the nuclear workforce in NEA countries, and even less in STEM and leadership positions.
The urgency of maintaining certain skills has been repeatedly highlighted by NEA member countries. To mitigate the risk of future shortages, capacity-building efforts focusing on STEM fields in general and on the nuclear sector in particular need to be sustained and reinforced. A crucial component of building the nuclear pipeline is attracting diverse women into the nuclear sector and supporting and developing them to succeed and to take on leadership positions.
The NEA is supporting its member countries to improve the gender balance in the sector by gathering data, formulating policy, and developing on-going communications, engagement, and educational activities. In response to member country requests during a series of high-level meetings held in 2019 and early 2021, the NEA established the Task Group on Improving the Gender Balance (GB-TG) to collect and analyse data and best practices in enhancing gender balance and empowering women. The group also supported targeted communications, engagement and educational activities to advance the participation and visibility of women in the sector.
In March 2023, the task group published a report Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector which features the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector, and a comprehensive, evidence-driven policy framework with practical recommendations. With this data as the evidentiary base, the OECD Council adopted the Recommendation of the Council on Improving the Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on 8 June 2023. The 2023 Recommendation consists of a framework of three pillars: attract, retain and advance.
Delegates to the task group were high-level representatives, including government officials and experts from industry, research institutes, and academia. The task group was chaired by Dr Fiona Rayment. The task group's mandate ended in December 2023.
The mandate of the High-Level Group on Improving the Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector (HLG-GB) was approved by the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy in October 2023. The group started its work in January 2024 with the mandate of facilitating the implementation and monitoring of the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Improving the Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector. This includes collecting and organising the data necessary to inform policymakers, and developing international policy, guidance, toolkits and best practices to help member countries address barriers and challenges related to the development and advancement of careers for women in the nuclear sector. The HLG-GB serves as a forum for discussion and sharing information as well as an action-oriented vehicle for collecting data, analysis, and elaborating policy and guidance for tracking and increasing the contributions of diverse women to the sector to achieve gender balance.
