Local participation beyond the law: Gendered employment in Ghanaian oil and gas companies

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.