I have spent my career communicating to people about the importance and excitement of science in their daily lives and hopefully inspiring younger people, particularly girls, to study and build careers in science and technology. It is vital for our country’s continued economic health that we maintain and grow the science base, and women have had and will have increasingly a bigger role to play in that.
So it’s ironic that I have been criticised for saying that women react differently to men when it comes to fracking. University of Nottingham research published recently revealed some of those differences. Only 31.5% of women are in favour of shale gas exploration compared to 58% of men. It appears that women do accept the rational benefits of shale gas – reducing our reliance on overseas supplies, creating an industry that will provide thousands of jobs, and making a contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and being a transitional stage in the UK’s plan for a low carbon future – but have concerns about fracking technology and its impact on the environment.
What are the reasons for this? Women think differently to men on a whole range of issues – I am sure both men and women would agree with that statement. Quite properly women don’t take issues on trust. They hear the arguments and on one side there are scientific facts, not necessarily explained in the clearest language, on the other emotional fears.
As a mother, I would do nothing to put my family, or any other family, in harm’s way. As a scientist I study the facts and know that many of the fears are irrational. As an educator I understand why people who do not engage with science are turned off by scientific facts. And the plain truth is that in this country we are extremely bad at encouraging women to engage with science – physics is the third most popular A-level among boys, but 17th among girls.
A recent study by the OECD showed that girls lacked confidence in science and maths, even when their exam results demonstrated that they were as good as or better than boys. This lack of confidence is even more prevalent among earlier generations of women. Scientific language does not resonate with them. They do not engage with it. What they do connect with is the impact they think science or technology will have on them and their family.
Women do not like being preached to by men, and the shale gas industry – like many other industries in this country – is dominated by men and engineers at that. I hope to be able to offer another perspective which will help achieve understanding and acceptance of energy that will help us all.
I have followed the debate about whether we should explore for shale gas since the beginning and I have been struck by the number of claims that have been made using examples from America – despite the differences in geography, technology and most importantly regulation. We’ve all heard the stories about exploding taps, earthquakes and droughts. I began to research the many academic studies that have been undertaken by prestigious universities in the US and UK and have read all the studies commissioned from organisations such as Public Health England and the Royal Society. My conclusion is that developing Britain’s homegrown sources of gas will play a major role in securing energy supplies and moving the nation towards a low-carbon economy – and it can be done safely with minimal impact to local communities.
So that’s why I agreed to become the chair of UK Onshore Oil and Gas, the body which represents those companies that want to explore for shale gas. It is clear the industry has to engage with people and explain in everyday language the processes it is going to use and the technology behind it.
The science behind fracking is well understood: it’s been used for more than 60 years. But we need to use a clear, accurate application of scientific evidence to help reassure local communities that reserves of British natural gas can be developed safely and with the minimum of environmental impact. We need to show people that UK gas supplies are part of a long-term sustainable solution and not just a stop gap.
The majority of women may be undecided about the benefits of shale gas, but there are women who are and they are not all scientists. Working with the industry I hope to be able to convince the undecided that we are committed to exploring and producing gas safely and responsibly.