Meet the women who are championing change
From India to the Netherlands to the United States, women at Shell are working at the forefront of technology as they contribute to our purpose of providing more and cleaner energy solutions.
Shell has an ambition to become one of the world鈥檚 most diverse and inclusive organisations, a place where everyone 鈥 including employees, customers, partners, and suppliers 鈥 feels valued, respected, and has a strong sense of belonging. Gender equality is one of our four DE&I equity focus areas, and we are working to increase female representation throughout our businesses. In 1997, when we set our first global diversity goals, just 4% of our senior leadership were women. Today we're working to reach or exceed 40% women in senior leadership by 2030, and to then make progress towards gender balance.
Women at Shell are driving change in every part of the company, from business analysis to supercomputing to software engineering, driven by a hunger to learn and a commitment to making an impact.
鈥淚 was delighted to see the breadth of Shell鈥檚 IT operations and I was able to see the real scope of its IT transformation and expansion after I joined.鈥
Just four years after Swati joined Shell as an intern while studying for an MBA, she is helping to drive forward new ways of working. She鈥檚 a business analyst in Design Engineering, a field dedicated to improving digital products, and she and her team are tasked with taking raw ideas and evolving them into usable solutions 鈥 for example, a chatbot employees can use to gather internal information.
鈥淥ur work means rolling out frameworks, bringing in new market standard tools, and ultimately revolutionising ways of working,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 was delighted to see the breadth of Shell鈥檚 IT operations and I was able to see the real scope of its IT transformation and expansion after I joined.鈥
Before her MBA, Swati had worked in a multinational IT company, but she found it to be a very different environment in Shell. 鈥淚 admire the autonomy we are given to drive projects from beginning to end. There鈥檚 a lot of trust, no micromanagement, and you鈥檙e allowed to carve out your own space, lead your initiatives, and test new approaches. This ensures you have a lot of learning opportunities.鈥
Personal growth at work
For Pranshi, a business analyst in Bangalore, the biggest motivation is working on projects that are implemented across the world. 鈥淚鈥檝e worked on tools that have been deployed across all Shell regions globally, and that was quite an experience,鈥 she recalls. 鈥淧eople still ask me questions about it, especially when newer employees are introduced to it. Working on projects like these doesn鈥檛 just lead to the evolution of the product, it leads to personal growth as well.鈥
Digital and transformation lead Sofia agrees, looking back on the 16 years she has spent at Shell so far. 鈥淚've evolved,鈥 she explains. 鈥淐hange came when I started my family. When I returned to work, Shell supported me to grow and develop and I shifted from hands-on technical roles to more strategic thinking, like how we can continue to provide sustainable energy.鈥
She describes her role as looking at how the company can use digital technology to become more efficient. 鈥淚 feel very fortunate because my work excites me. I'm growing professionally, and I'm involved in the energy transition. It's a really good feeling, because it's a big task and it matters. I'm actively playing my part and to me that feels good.鈥
Meet Sofia
Learning new transferable skills
Jennifer works in Europe thousands of miles away from Sofia but has also found her career expanding into new areas. She began at Shell working in data engineering supporting individual traders from the power trading desk. As this business grew, her role shifted focus to software development for bigger and more integrated projects across multiple markets in power energy trading. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to feel part of this incredible machine, sharing energy across the seas and continents,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to say I am part of the future of energy. Providing the energy that people around the world need today.鈥
Balancing priorities
Bala was curious about whether an energy company would have the same room for the career growth she鈥檇 expect at large technology firms like the major software company she worked for in India. But when she joined, she found a well-established IT department that offered her both challenging and varied work. There have been other unexpected benefits. 鈥淢y two kids grew up while I was working at Shell, I don鈥檛 think I could鈥檝e done it anywhere else,鈥 she says. She鈥檚 seen how Shell offers flexibility by focusing on getting things done rather than applying rigid rules on working hours.
When Mitali went on maternity leave, she was pleasantly surprised with the flexibility Shell offered. She describes what happened next: 鈥淲hen I broke the news of my pregnancy to my line manager, I vividly remember his words. He said, 鈥楳itali, first of all, congratulations, and secondly, you can avail maternity leave even from the first day of joining Shell!鈥欌
The moment she returned from leave she was warmly welcomed back into the team at Shell Technology Centre in Bangalore, India. Since then she has been working in high-performance computing, helping to solve Shell鈥檚 most challenging business opportunities faster 鈥 from earth sciences to the chemistry of batteries. 鈥淚 am currently part of a project that will support Shell鈥檚 transition to become a net-zero emissions business while providing the energy that people around the world need today. It really excites me to be a part of the journey that will not only provide energy to power the world but will also make it a better place to live for future generations.鈥
Finding purpose developing energy solutions
In another continent, Elena is helping to develop a different kind of energy solution of tomorrow. 鈥淭o me, there is no bigger challenge than the energy transition, and now I鈥檓 working at Shell doing exactly what I wanted to. I鈥檓 based in the Netherlands, working with low carbon fuels at a company that supports me in my career and my life goals. Right now I work in hydrogen and I鈥檓 absolutely loving it.鈥 Elena is leading a project to develop a new business model for hydrogen trucks. 鈥淚t's very empowering to be able to contribute to the energy transition. I'm constantly learning and that means I'm progressing.鈥
She adds: 鈥淭he culture here has helped me thrive outside of work too, and that allows me to bring my best self into work. Plus I really have the ability to change lives for the better. That makes me feel very happy and fulfilled.鈥