THE COUNCIL ,
HAVING REGARD to Article 5 b) of the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of 14 December 1960;
HAVING REGARD to the standards developed by the OECD in the area of gender equality in employment, education and entrepreneurship, as well as gender equality in public life;
RECOGNISING that women pioneered the nuclear and radiological fields and continue to make vital contributions, but that the underrepresentation of women in the fields of STEM and leadership roles within the nuclear sector highlights the need for particular policy attention to improve gender balance;
RECOGNISING that the nuclear sector has a deeper gender imbalance than many other STEM areas as well as a persistent cultural bias that presents particular challenges to women;
RECOGNISING that improving gender balance could spur the innovation and performance necessary as the nuclear sector, in the view of those countries choosing nuclear energy as part of their strategy, contributes to the global challenge to transform society, policies, technologies and practices to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century;
RECOGNISING that the nuclear sector is heavily influenced by governments and is a high-impact sector in the view of those countries choosing nuclear energy as part of their strategy in the global effort to mitigate climate change and transition to low-carbon energy.
On the proposal of the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy:
I. RECOMMENDS that Members and non-Members having adhered to this Recommendation (hereafter the “Adherents”) take actions to attract women into the nuclear sector . To this effect, Adherents should direct, incentivise or encourage, as applicable, nuclear agencies, contractors, and public funding recipients to:
1. Engage in public communications campaigns to promote improved gender balance and designed to:
a) change gender-based perceptions about careers in the nuclear sector, including gender-stereotypical attitudes towards science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) with a view to normalise nuclear science and technology as fields for women and girls;
b) explain the social value and impact of nuclear science and technology;
c) highlight attractive career opportunities in the nuclear sector;
d) showcase women’s leadership and contributions to the nuclear field;
e) target communications to convince both women and men as to why improving gender balance benefits the nuclear sector and enriches STEM fields therein, including workplaces and workforces.
2. Undertake specific initiatives and facilitate efforts to enhance the educational pipeline, including to:
a) inform students, parents, caregivers and teachers on the value and impact of nuclear science and technology;
b) encourage all students, particularly girls, especially those at the early stages of schooling, to pursue STEM studies by:
i. creating information packs and/or online educational modules about nuclear science and technology, including women’s contributions to the field, and share or partner with educational establishments and teachers on dissemination;
ii. introducing students to female career role models in nuclear STEM roles;
iii. organising career days, mentoring workshops, and other awareness events.
3. Develop, implement and regularly update policies to identify and eliminate gender-based barriers and to improve gender balance in recruitment and hiring, including to:
a) conduct recruitment campaigns that attract women;
b) use best practices in gender-neutral job announcement language and hiring criteria;
c) implement the use of gender-neutral selection criteria, and application reviews and selection panels with improved gender balance;
d) regularly review policies, practices, and outcomes related to the starting salaries of new hires to assure pay parity.
II. RECOMMENDS that Adherents retain and support women in the nuclear workforce . To this effect, Adherents should direct, incentivise or encourage, as applicable, nuclear agencies, contractors, and public funding recipients to:
1. Address impacts related to the conduct of family responsibilities, including to:
a) provide flexibility that may support employees with family responsibilities outside work, such as flexible teleworking for all staff;
b) analyse the need for off-normal hours in nuclear positions (particularly those related to the operation of nuclear facilities) and their relationship to career advancement, clearly explain their necessity where required, and develop accommodations or alternate career progression pathways;
c) offer or facilitate access to childcare, lactation facilities, and other dependent care in the workplace;
d) offer attractive parental and family leave policies and encourage all employees to take full advantage of these benefits;
e) develop policies and programmes to support employees returning from parental or family leave to re-integrate into the workplace and to mitigate impacts on career and pay progression;
f) regularly review the above policies and publish assessments of their impact, including plans to remedy any gaps.
2. Develop appropriate institutional measures to eliminate gender-based harassment in the workplace, to create inclusive work environments and cultures, and to address gender stereotypes and unconscious bias, including to:
a) provide regular, organisation-wide inclusivity training;
b) implement targeted strategies promoting allyship and maximising diverse participation, including by men, to foster inclusive work cultures;
c) conduct independent assessments to identify any patterns of harassment and bias, as well as workplace culture strengths and weaknesses with regards to inclusivity;
d) develop plans to remedy any adverse assessment findings and build inclusive workplace practices;
e) encourage other organisations with whom the agency, contractor, or funding recipient engages (such as licensees of nuclear safety regulatory agencies) to promote all appropriate measures to ensure working environments free of harassment and to foster inclusive work cultures.
3. Regularly and independently assess policies and programmes for unequal gender impacts, including but not limited to human resource policies and career development programmes, for example through gender impact assessment tools.
4. Link performance and compensation of executives and managers to implementing measures to promote gender equality, such as in areas covered by this Recommendation, and to build an inclusive work culture.
5. Participate in and promote qualitative national surveys with a clearly defined periodicity on workplace experiences, including regular surveys on perceptions in the nuclear sector regarding:
a) gender-based harassment;
b) gender-based discrimination;
c) unequal gender impacts in the workplace, including regarding compensation and career advancement;
d) parental and caregiver leave, including organisational support, workplace culture and attitudes, and career impacts;
e) other gender-based workplace experiences.
III. RECOMMENDS that Adherents advance and develop women as leaders in the nuclear sector and enhance their contributions . To this effect, Adherents should direct, incentivise or encourage, as applicable, nuclear agencies, contractors, and public funding recipients to:
1. Identify and address unequal gender impacts for women’s career recognition and advancement, in particular to:
a) provide unconscious bias and inclusivity training for all decision-makers and interviewers for hiring and promotions;
b) offer leadership and career advocacy training (particularly for, but not limited to, those in STEM areas) that provides a particular emphasis on self-empowerment to all employees with special sessions targeted to female staff and open to all employees;
c) offer training for managers on supporting diversity in the workplace, including on removing gender-based barriers to advancement;
d) develop organisational resource groups and support networks of diverse coalitions that include male allies to promote gender equity and foster inclusive work cultures;
e) conduct regular pay equity reviews to ensure that employees are compensated appropriately based on experience, years of service, scope of work, and position.
2. Participate in national surveys on gender representation in the nuclear workforce on:
a) salaries (including for new hires and employees returned from parental leave), salary increases, bonuses and promotions, disaggregated by gender, job function, and management level;
b) gender-disaggregated representation in job functions and levels, including time-in-position;
c) gender-disaggregated participation in career development and training programmes, especially those considered prerequisites for promotion to the executive level;
d) career impacts on employees who take parental or family leave, including correlations between time away from the workplace and career progression;
e) policies on improving gender balance, including pay equity, the availability and use of parental leave, the provision of re-integration support, and how the effectiveness of policies is measured;
f) qualitative examples of successes and challenges that can be shared as examples of best practices and lessons learned.
IV. RECOMMENDS that Adherents undertake data collection and analysis, and establish accountability regarding the effectiveness and implementation of efforts to improve gender balance. To this effect, Adherents should direct, incentivise or encourage, as applicable, nuclear agencies, contractors, and public funding recipients to:
1. Set and publicly issue short-term and long-term goals for the actions proposed in this Recommendation, and participate in national surveys, including surveys and data collection exercises at the international level;
2. Designate a senior executive and identify resources to implement activities.
V. INVITES the Secretary-General to disseminate the Recommendation.
VI. INVITES Adherents to disseminate the Recommendation at all levels of government.
VII. INVITES non-Adherents to take due account of, and adhere to, the Recommendation.
VIII. INSTRUCTS the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy to:
a) continue its work of collecting and mapping data received from Adherents through national surveys co-ordinated by the Nuclear Energy Agency to support the implementation of this Recommendation;
b) continue serving as a forum for exchanging information and best practices and for facilitating and co-ordinating action on increasing the contributions of women to the nuclear sector;
c) develop practical guidance and tools to support Adherents’ implementation of this Recommendation; and
d) report to the Council on the implementation, dissemination and continued relevance of this Recommendation at the same time as the implementation of the other OECD Gender Recommendations.