Local participation beyond the law: Gendered employment in Ghanaian oil and gas companies
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The Extractive Industries and Society
Abstract
Oil and gas extraction can promote development through inter-sectoral linkages with the broader national
economies. Increasingly, there is an emphasis on revenue management and local content laws aimed at fostering
extractive sector-led development in African countries due to the neglect of gender dynamics within the sector.
This paper examines the factors that influence women employees’ progression into leadership positions in
Ghanaian companies in the oil and gas sector using 2 case studies. The findings show gender segregation of work
and underrepresentation of women in technical, management, and senior management positions. While
underrepresenting women in technical positions is unsurprising, the study shows an equally low representation
of women in support roles, often considered a preserve for women. Effectively, there is a stark income inequality
between men and women as men dominate the highly paid and strategic positions as compared to women. We
argue that while local content laws can promote local participation in the extractive sector, in Ghana, there is a
reinforcement of gender asymmetry between men’s and women’s employment and income. Thus, local content
laws must move beyond promoting local participation to ensuring gender-responsive policies and programmes in
the oil and gas sector.
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Research Article