Why does a diverse judging panel make industry awards events more credible?

Like many energy-related industries, the energy storage sector suffers from a severe lack of diversity in leadership roles.

To take the example of gender diversity, it’s a sad fact that women are underrepresented on company boards and in senior management in general. However, as the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) has highlighted, this issue of under-representation is “even more accentuated in energy-related fields”.

Women have ‘few opportunities to advance’ in storage

There is a belief in some quarters that the biggest reason for the dearth of women in leadership positions in the storage sector is the lack of opportunities for women in the industry to develop their careers and advance into senior roles. This view was borne out by an Energy Storage Report survey on social media that sought to identify the major factors contributing to the lack of women leaders – the most common reason given by survey respondents (a total of 31 per cent) for the lack of women leaders in storage was the fact that women in the sector have “few opportunities to advance”.

Women leaders ‘less connected to their peers’ than male colleagues

So, alarmingly for the energy storage industry, the biggest problem is not the shortage of women entering the sector but rather the obstacles women face to career advancement after they have embarked on careers in the industry.

What are the knock-on effects of this lack of women leaders? One of the key impacts – and this also applies to the energy sector more generally – is that the few women that manage to secure top positions are often “less connected with their peers than their male colleagues”, according to GWNET.

Why energy storage sector suffers from lack of women leadership

There are a number of other damaging side-effects of the shortage of women in senior roles in storage. The lack of women leaders means the energy storage industry is:

• less innovative than it could be
• missing out on opportunities to pursue new pathways for technology deployment
• missing out on fresh perspectives that could drive far-reaching change in economies and societies that could help to foster the wider adoption of energy storage
• missing out on a richer and more diverse talent pool.

Why it was vital to have a diverse judging panel for the Energy Storage Investment Awards

These are just some of the reasons why Tamarindo was determined that the Energy Storage Investment Awards entries would be judged by a diverse panel of industry experts.

This ambition has not been compromised and we are proud to report that the judging panel is diverse not just in terms of gender, but also backgrounds and expertise. This diverse judging panel will enable a multitude of viewpoints to be shared, and through discussion and debate, the best entries will be identified.

Entries are judged fairly and objectively

A variety of skills and experiences among the judges means that they can learn from each other, understand different mindsets and make connections. This chimes with one of our core principles at Energy Storage Report, which is bringing together those on the financial and technical sides of the sector for discussion and knowledge-sharing.

All Energy Storage Investment Awards should go to the most deserving candidate. For that to happen, it is vital that entries are judged fairly and objectively and the best way to achieve that is through a diverse judging panel.

To enter one of the 14 award categories, click here.