Carly Weller speaks to leading women in the battery industry, exploring their experiences, challenges and the drive toward equity in the sector.
The battery industry is one of the most dynamic and important sectors of our time, but behind the headlines about billion-dollar gigafactories and breakthrough chemistries lies a quieter, more human story: the people who make this industry possible.
The Volta Foundation’s Battery Talent Census 2024 surveyed over 1,000 professionals and students to provide the most comprehensive snapshot yet of the workforce. It revealed optimism among students but uncertainty about skills; competitive entry‑level salaries but dissatisfaction and pay gaps; and above all, a shortage of skilled talent.
Within this landscape, women’s experiences stand out. They remain underrepresented in leadership, manufacturing and engineering, and face pay disparities of up to 30% at entry level. And too often, they encounter bias, exclusion or harassment. If the battery industry is to thrive, it must not only recruit and train talent – it must create cultures where women are respected, supported and empowered to lead.
To understand what this means in practice, we spoke to four women whose careers span science, safety, recruitment, advocacy and leadership: Jill Pestana, founder of Pestana Solutions; Caroline Gaya, senior battery safety expert at Ineris; Lauren Allanson, director of member development at the Volta Foundation; and Susan Bernard, director at WGBI (Women in the Global Battery Industry). Their stories, combined with Census data, illuminate both the challenges and the pathways forward.
Standing out in technical spaces
For many women, the first step into the battery industry meant standing out in ways they did not choose. Jill Pestana recalls:
“When I entered the battery field, I had already been in predominantly technical environments where I stood out immediately as a young woman. I didn’t love standing out – I just wanted to learn and do my work – but the attention was unavoidable.”
Her early role at a lithium-ion R&D startup was both exhilarating and isolating. She loved learning about next-generation technology and even patented her inventions, but the experience was shaped by bias and harassment.
“Over the years, I’ve had many experiences that ranged from bias to outright harassment – some subtle, some not. Those experiences shaped how I navigate the field today.”
Caroline Gaya echoes this sentiment from her own career in France:
“Especially when you are young. The younger I was, the more difficult it was. Even sometimes you can have meetings with clients who make jokes that they would never do if they were speaking to a man.”
These are not isolated anecdotes. The Census shows that leadership remains overwhelmingly male, and women are particularly scarce in manufacturing and engineering. Representation is not just about numbers; it is about culture. When women are “the girl of the lab, or of the team,” as Gaya puts it, they face pressures that men rarely experience.
Bias and harassment are not abstract issues – they are lived realities that shape careers, confidence and retention. Pestana has been forthright about this, even creating a nine-chapter course on navigating workplace harassment. Early in her career, she tried to minimise attention by “blending in and dressing the part” but eventually realised she could not bend herself into someone else’s idea of acceptance.
“I eventually realised I couldn’t contort myself into a version that people would accept – so I decided to stand out on my own terms and make that an advantage.”
Gaya reflects with candour:
“Sometimes I regret not pushing back. You just want to do your best and you accept comments that are not acceptable just because you want to prove that your work is the most important. Maybe now we have a bit more freedom, so don’t let people diminish you.”
These voices remind us that harassment and bias are not minor inconveniences. They are unacceptable behaviours that undermine talent, innovation and human dignity, and the industry cannot afford to normalise them.
Mentorship
Across all the interviews, one theme stood out clearly – mentorship. Pestana notes:
“Men in technical environments often get informal mentorship because people ‘see themselves’ in them. I rarely had that dynamic, and it absolutely slowed my progression early on. If I had stronger technical mentorship early, I would have grown faster.”
Lauren Allanson shares a similar reflection. Early in her career in automotive, she lacked role models and mentors, which fuelled her passion to support women today. Through initiatives like #WomenPower and the Battery Brandfluence method, she connects women with visible role models and helps them build confidence and personal brands.
Susan Bernard highlights WGBI’s structured mentor programme, which pairs women across career stages:
“That one-on-one time and providing opportunity for those women to meet and be in a programme like that is really important.”
Mentorship is a critical infrastructure for talent development. The Census found that 90% of professionals receive on-the-job training, but 78% take longer than three months to feel comfortable in their roles. Formal mentorship could accelerate this process, reduce attrition, and ensure that women are not left behind.
Progress and gaps
There are signs of progress. Bernard notes that conferences are becoming more inclusive, with organisers actively seeking female speakers. Companies across the sector are investing in women’s leadership and professional development in different ways. Clarios, for example, supports nearly 100 women through its WGBI membership programme. Hollingsworth & Vose and EnerSys have each established internal women’s groups, while several other companies choose to fund WGBI access for their employees even without running their own internal networks. WGBI has expanded globally, opening its first Latin American chapter in 2025.
Yet the gaps remain stark. Only around 16% of leadership positions are held by women. Entry-level pay disparities persist. And retention is fragile, as half of professionals are actively seeking new opportunities, with average tenure just 2.3 years. For women, retention is further complicated by structural barriers such as family planning and rigid technical roles that demand constant on-site presence.
Allanson explains:
“It is super challenging to know which path to go down, but my advice is always to take opportunities as and when you can, so that you can broaden your experience, and therefore progress.”
Despite barriers, women leaders are reshaping the industry. Pestana argues that women often bring strengths in collaboration, inclusion and identifying blind spots:
“People with marginalised experiences often see system failures more clearly, which can help organisations succeed in fast-moving, complex technical fields.”
Allanson highlights empathy and cross-functional working as key contributions, while Bernard stresses the importance of being “confidently assertive” – holding space without aggression.
These perspectives align with Census findings that soft skills such as creativity, communication and critical thinking account for 83% of career success factors, far outweighing technical skills alone.
Practical steps forward
Together, the interviews point to a set of practical steps that businesses and decision‑makers can take if they are serious about change.
Transparency and fairness must come first: clear career pathways and pay structures are essential to retaining talent.
Mentorship and sponsorship are equally vital, with structured programmes like those run by WGBI helping women grow faster and counteracting the informal bias that so often slows progression.
Culture matters too. Pestana calls for systemic practices such as transparent conflict resolution pathways and whistleblower protections, while Gaya urges both women and men to speak up against behaviour that should never be tolerated.
Education and outreach also play a role in shifting perceptions. Allanson stresses the importance of showing batteries in everyday, practical contexts to inspire girls, while Gaya takes part in events like Fête de la Science to encourage young women to pursue STEM.
Finally, male allies have a crucial part to play. Bernard highlights how men can support equity not only by sponsoring women’s groups but also by examining their own cultures and unconscious biases. Taken together, these actions form a roadmap toward a more inclusive industry – one where women are not just present, but empowered to lead.
What makes these stories powerful is not just the data, but the humanity. Pestana speaks of the pride she felt when she learned she was featured in a forthcoming children’s book about inspiring scientists:
“Seeing myself represented is emotional because I needed someone like me to look up to 10 years ago.”
Gaya describes visiting schools to tell girls, “Okay, you can do it”, because she knows how easily they limit themselves. Allanson recalls the lack of mentors in her own early career and now dedicates herself to ensuring others do not feel the same isolation. Meanwhile, Bernard reflects on the joy of mentoring someone for a year and a half, seeing their growth firsthand.
The Battery Talent Census makes it clear: the industry’s biggest challenge is not technology, but people. Shortages of skilled workers are holding back growth, and solving them will take more than training programmes, it demands cultural change. Bias and harassment cannot be brushed aside as minor issues – they erode trust, push talent away and stifle innovation. Pay gaps cannot be justified and exclusion cannot be tolerated.
The voices of these successful women remind us that inclusion is not a side issue – it is central to building the resilient, innovative workforce the energy transition demands. Their experiences show both the harm caused when women are dismissed or harassed, and the extraordinary contributions they make when they are supported, mentored and given space to lead.
Together, these voices call for an industry where women are not the exception, but the norm; where conferences and boardrooms reflect the diversity of the workforce; where mentorship is embedded, pay is transparent, and harassment is confronted rather than tolerated.
The battery industry is building the future of energy. It cannot do so while leaving half the talent pool underrepresented or undervalued. As Pestana put it, equity is “more than ratios, it’s about culture and belonging.” If the industry embraces that truth, it will not only solve its talent shortages, it will unlock the full potential of the people who power innovation.
