Yet not even half (49%) of employees and hiring managers in every region even perceive the industry to be male dominated. And 58% of hiring managers don't have or don't know if they have an active policy to encourage more women into their organisation.

OilCareers.com and Air Energi's latest Global Workforce Survey revealed that while 42% of managers had an affirmative action policy, only 36% of them thought it effective.

The survey revealed that Australasia was clearly the "most progressive" of the regions, with 53% stating that their company had a policy to encourage more women into oil and gas roles - the highest proportion of any region globally.

More than that, respondents showed an appetite for more change within Australasian oil and gas, with 69% stating that addressing the imbalance would allow the industry access to a wider talent pool; while 49% reported that encouraging more girls to take science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at school would be the most effective course of action by the industry.

The men who completed the survey believe, however, that a "masculine image" still deters women from entering the sector, including Australasia, showing "initiatives to bring more women into the oil and gas industry are still not working".

About 44% of hiring managers agreed that more women would lead to increased productivity and organisational success and about 64% of overall respondents believed addressing the gender gap would provide access to a wider talent pool at all levels.

And, linking this issue to another facing the industry, 30% believed that addressing the gender gap would reduce the skills gap.

However, when asked about such challenges in the oil and gas industry compared to other industries, Japanese major Inpex's Perth-based manager of diversity, inclusion and wellbeing Catherine Johnson told Energy News that, "aside from the usual issues of women in any science related occupation, I don't feel that the Australian oil and gas industry is any more challenging than other industries".

As to what companies could do to address the gender gap, she suggested:

• Parental leave plans for men and women;
• Ensuring that when women came back to work, there was some process to ensure they were managing the transition back into work and juggling children/work and possible changes in work if they were now part-time instead of full-time;
• Flexible work practices so that parents of any gender can have late starts/early finishes to meet family needs as required; and

• Assistance with returning to work whether it is due to a new baby or a long illness.

The key, she said, was to encourage a culture of care while at the same time ensure productivity is maintained.

"The well-supported employee will be more productive and loyal to the company where job clarity and expectations are reasonable and can be balanced with demands from home," Johnson said.

And as far as Inpex goes, she said that while the company continues in the construction phase of the Ichthys project and building its permanent workforce, "we will see a higher ratio of men to women in the technical areas".

"Our challenge is to measure and be aware of the high male to female ratio that also exists in the corporate non-technical positions, and consider how we can increase the number of females in management roles."

Most respondents (48%) of the Global Workforce Survey believed encouraging more girls to take STEM subjects; while 32% believed a focus on transferable skills when recruiting was the answer; while 31% believed the emphasis should be on progression, with leadership and opportunities for women.

As to the reasons for the gender gap, 55% cited a lack of women entering the industry, 53% believed industry culture created by a male dominated environment was to blame; while 30% cited the logistics requirement - that is, travel, shift work and working patterns in the field.

"Given the chronic skills gap in oil and gas, the last 12-18 months has seen many companies waking up to the fact that there is a distinct lack of women joining the industry," OilCareers.com managing director Mark Guest said.

"Encouraging girls to study STEM subjects at school is something that may impact the industry, but only in the future.

"There are many women around the world who already have related business, science or engineering degrees and still don't consider oil and gas as a career option. This really needs to be addressed for the long-term good of the industry."