Santos’s Helena Wu is one of the first graduates of UniSA’s Women in MBA (WiMBA) scholarship

Dozens of Santos employees are supporting the Tour Down Under as volunteers this year, including high flying petroleum engineer Helena Wu.

Santos team leader new development Helena Wu

• Five SA women named Superstars of STEM
• Lifestyle, good pay come with STEM, says Olympic Dam boss
• How perceptions of gender equality differ across Australia
• Santos unveils ambitious growth target at investor day

HELENA Wu is one of dozens of Santos employees supporting the Tour Down Under as event volunteers during this year’s event.

The petroleum engineer will today support the major sponsor’s activities at the Tour Village in Victoria Square, followed next weekend with participation in the tour parade at McLaren Vale.

Ms Wu, 32, has developed a keen interest in sport, after initially using it as a way to connect with colleagues when she entered the male dominated oil & gas industry more than ten years ago.

“In my first role I was one of the very few women working fly-in fly-out and so sport was a very common topic of conversation at the dinner table,” she said.

“I genuinely like watching and following sport - there wouldn’t be too many people who have followed the cricket this summer as closely as I have.”

After starting her career with Santos as a graduate field engineer in Ballera, in south-west Queensland, Ms Wu has held technical, planning and strategy roles with the oil & gas company, and currently supports its Papua New Guinea operations as a development team leader.

“It’s very much a mix of petroleum engineering, which is most of my technical background, strategy and planning, and project management,” she said.

“Two and half years ago I transitioned into the Santos corporate strategy and planning team and I decided to do an MBA at that time.”

At the end of last year Ms Wu became one of the first three graduates of UniSA’s Women in MBA (WiMBA) scholarship program, which was launched in 2015 to address the gender imbalance in MBA enrolments, and to support the careers of women with leadership potential.

“With the skills I’ve developed and continue to develop, they’ve equipped me quite well to leadership positions, whether managing a team or managing stakeholders - thinking strategically,” she said.

“The MBA has given me a really great appreciation of how executives and boards think and what’s important to them.”

The WiMBA scholarships are funded by UniSA and employers, who are also required to provide scholarship recipients with flexible working arrangements, a career mentor and supportive career pathway options.

UniSA pro vice chancellor Marie Wilson said 20 women had been awarded a WiMBA scholarship, including Svitzer Australia port manager Cheree Figg and Minetec financial controller Ka Yi Li, who both graduated with Ms Wu last year.

“Because WiMBA is about a partnership with business to develop female leadership it does two things – it gets business and industry thinking in the right way about women’s potential, and then it gets them to back women to achieve that potential,” Professor Wilson said.

Ms Wu is passionate about her industry and currently sits on the international board of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

But she believes more can be done to support female leaders in the resources industry and in other male dominated sectors.

“What I enjoy about working in the oil & gas sector is that you’re able to see and contribute to the difference the industry makes to improving people’s lives,” she said.

“While we have come a long way, there are some unconscious biases in the resources industry and in society generally as well.

“There are some behaviours, like assertiveness or confidence, which in women can be seen as being bossy or aggressive.

“But in terms of opportunities there’s been a lot of effort by industry and companies such as Santos, to improve gender diversity through things like scholarships and mentoring programs.

“I’ve been very lucky to have access to senior leaders as mentors, both male and female - I believe mentoring is very important.”