International Women's Day 2024
The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free. Maya Angelou
Happy International Women’s Day 2024. This IWD, we wanted to take space to discuss everything going on in the battery space to diversify not just our cathode chemistries but also our workforce. International Women’s Day is a fantastic opportunity to talk about not just gender, but also more intersectional forms of liberation.
There are several initiatives that affect diversity within the battery industry, and we spoke to a stellar collection of powerhouse individuals to get an overview of the good stuff going on.
This article was written by Intercalation team Issy and Pooja, but builds off interviews with Jill Pestana, advisor to the Volta foundation JEDI initiative, Sarah Mojuetan, ambassador for Women in Mining UK, Fiona Coomer, R&D Programme Manager at Echion Technologies, who sits on the Faraday Institution Training Diversity and Inclusion panel, Phoebe O’Hara at FastMarkets, and many other discussions along the way.
Introduction
Batteries occupy a space in Engineering, Material Science, Chemistry and Geology which has been traditionally been dominated by male figures, often white. The Nobel Prize in 2019 taken as an example, won by Goodenough, Whittingham and Yoshino who are all male.
The beginnings of science help us explain this.
The sciences as we know them are Western sciences, representing a particular model of knowledge acquisition. Western science emerged in Europe during the 17th century and has become a standardized method of producing knowledge in a rational and objective way. The Western form of science was soon exported to all corners of the earth through colonialism and imperialism, along with oppression as a core value. There are many different ways of knowing and understanding our world. However, due to the dominance of Western science, other indigenous knowledge forms are not seen as equal in places like politics, education and academia.
Scientists are therefore traditionally considered to having a typically objective and ‘masculine’ work style. More traditional ‘female’ characteristics have historically been rejected by the scientific community, with the loss of the empathetic and different style of working and leadership that they bring.
Women represent between just 8 and 17 % of the global mining industry, and the current picture in the UK for engineering is as follows:
This 2019 post from the Faraday Institution calls for UK academics to be “bold and intentional” in their search for talent and PhD students in an attempt to diversify the talent feeding into the UK battery industry. The talent pipeline coming from undergraduate degrees also needs attention, however this article focuses on attraction and retention to specifically batteries.
Diversity in workforces is shown to improve decision-making and problem-solving processes through higher creativity and innovation potential, and make teams smarter and able to capture bigger markets. That’s before we even consider socioeconomic factors, age, religion, and LGBTQ representation.
What’s out there?
This list is non-exhaustive and includes what we could find that was relevant to the battery sector and up to date. Their aims vary but ultimately they attempt to create what’s described by Marja Vilkman as “feeling that we belong here”:
Women in Mining UK (WIM UK) - a network committed to promoting the employment, retention and advancement of women in the mining sector.
WIM UK promotes a series of summer internships to give female a students a flavour for working in the mining industry, whilst being supported by their network of colleagues from around the world.
WIM UK celebrates 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining (WIM100), trailblazing women leaders who advocate for a more sustainable, diverse and inclusive industry.
WIM UK and Camborne School of Mines Trust offer two scholarships to outstanding aspiring women who seek to study a mining-related degree at the Camborne School of Mines.
Volta Foundation’s Women in Batteries webinar series (one recent example here)
Battery Associates offers scholarships for underrepresented backgrounds in the industry for their Battery MBA, as well as offering a general network with a strong commitment to equality and diversity.
Company specific networks e.g. Women in STEM and diversity inclusion clubs these groups can for example organise meet-up and events, workshops and even mentorship schemes for other women and people from diverse backgrounds. It is not that men are excluded from these events or meet-ups, rather the goal is to get everyone involved to help understand and solve the challenges that women and minority groups are facing. A few such events Pooja has attended at previous companies (including Tesla/Lucid):
Women in STEM 5k race attended by male/female participants
Women in STEM committee members to raise concerns and have an open discussion run monthly
Mentorship schemes from senior leaders/members of the company both male and female targeted towards mentorship towards females
Monthly lunches for women from all sectors of the company
LGBTQ+ initiatives relevant to batteries include the LGBT+ physical sciences network, and Pride in STEM.
Enable Science was founded to support disabled individuals to succeed in science.
BBStem aims to improve the representation of black individuals in STEM.
The overarching aims of these initiatives can be summarised into three main points:
raising the awareness and platform of both the discrimination faced by these groups as well as the achievements of the group’s individuals;
supporting individual members in their career;
advocating for and promoting change to lessen discrimination.
Reflections
There are a lot of parts to creating and promoting diversity in the workforce, much like a large jigsaw. Some pieces are larger than others.
A key theme that emerged was this central idea of platform. The visibility of regular webinars by the Volta Foundation discussing different career paths and platforming individuals is an excellent example.
Putting people who come from historically marginalized groups in positions of power and making strong efforts to retain them there gives decision makers with different perspectives, able to better meet a more diverse range of needs. However, this also has to go hand in hand with the right kind of system that is able to properly hold people accountable with workplace protections, legal help, transparent conflict resolution pathways and legal whistleblower protection. Having a platform where people from minority backgrounds can voice their concerns helps to bring a sense of belonging and make them feel supported, fostering a sense of community and inclusion.
Any culture shift has to come from both the top and bottom of an organisation. Engaging with focus groups and getting recommendations has to be met with willingness from senior management to implement their recommendations, otherwise the exercise is disempowering with a lack of change. There must also be a commitment from the average worker to the change - whether that be by attending provided trainings or gently checking one another in everyday assumptions and language.
These efforts must also be facilitated by people who know how to set up and implement initiatives - not just left to underresourced but keen employees. Finally, job descriptions and work hour flexibility allows wider participation for people like carers and individuals with a disability.
We teamed up with Fastmarkets this week and ran an event in London to celebrate IWD and get into some gritty discussion. The event opened with conversation around the issues faced by the attendees with regards to identity and prejudice. We then split into smaller groups to come up with solutions, a lot of which surrounded the ideas discussed above. Other issues touched upon included how to remove the burden on minorities of EDI committees, supporting mothers returning to work and the suggestion of trained meeting chairs to ensure equitable chances to contribute in meetings.
The format worked really well, and the contributions from each individual so considered. We were also so very impressed with the Royal Society of Chemistry catering us a fully vegetarian offering that almost convinced everyone the vegan salmon was real.
Action points for building a diverse and empowered workforce
Rethink what you might consider basics. Using the lowest common denominator is also an easy way to make workplace events more inclusive. Having vegan or vegetarian food alleviates attendees’ need to worry about whether or not meat is halal or kosher. The same applies with drinks, since a ‘pub’ setting instantly implies alcohol and this is a setting many people are not comfortable networking in. Perhaps considering re-phrasing ‘drinks’ to coffee hangouts or since British culture and after work activities are so often linked with a pub, associate it with non-alcoholic drinks or soda.
Fund and create space for discussion and learning. Doing the work such as unconscious bias training is time consuming and difficult. On top of a full time job, it can be extremely difficult for individuals to find the time and energy to decolonise and relearn their knowledge and experiences. By creating programmes or diary time to prioritise space and discussion for challenging systemic beliefs, companies and workforces can grow together. This kind of growth does not have to be expensive, but it does have to be intentional.
Champion the softer skills. Academia in particular has a rather cut throat approach, often based on metrics that rank people quantitative measures like how many papers they’ve published. Scientists who have the biggest world impact however, are often those who can communicate their work outside of the academic community such as to policy makers or investors, or those who can teach well and mentor students. Similarly, those with different situations may have taken time out of their careers for whatever reason. Valuing and championing skills that have not always been valued in science and batteries enough yet is a sure way to start attracting different typical candidates.
Visibility. It’s much easier to feel like you belong somewhere when there is someone already there that reminds you of yourself. It’s difficult for conference line ups to achieve gender parity in male dominated fields. However, it’s not difficult to better highlight key speakers who do not represent the industry ‘majority’ when making line up announcements. This doesn’t have to be a performative nod, but some thought over the line up can make a real difference.
Social clubs and groups. Clubs and groups that run lunches, workshops and events to create a safe space for people to talk about their issues and problems as well as foster a sense of community and belonging. The inclusion of male/non-minority people in these groups is extremely useful for them to better understand the challenges faced and to foster an open discussion about what steps to take to make a change for the better.
Happy International Women’s Day.
🌞 Thanks for reading!
📧 For tips, feedback, or inquiries - reach out