The psychology of socio-technical systems: Professionalism, power, and personality in the electricity sector

Abstract

Taken as a whole, the electric power sector is one of the largest machines ever built, and as such, running it efficiently requires a specific operational approach: a commitment to highly ordered, interlocking, authoritarian systems. In this sense, it embodies a distinct sociotechnical structure that may be expected to select for, reward, and perpetuate energy professionals whose personalities compliment and further these underlying structures. Given that the sector has an over-representation of men, this perspective proposes that the differences in labor force participation between men and women might be at least partly a function of personality differences between men and women and that the personality diversity in the electric power sector may be worse than the current sex imbalance indicates. Furthermore, the field of personality psychology has shown that sex differences in personality are expected to widen as societies become more egalitarian, a shift that could potentially exacerbate the sex imbalance in the electric power sector. By redesigning the technical aspects of the sector so that it elicits a more balanced sociotechnical expression, it may be possible to simultaneously create a more balanced workforce and an industry more capable of achieving a sustainable future.