Don't Make Us the Boogeyman: Oilfield Masculinities, Climate Change, and the Role of Social Work in a Just Energy Transition

Background & Purpose: As the global climate crisis accelerates, transitioning away from fossil fuels is widely recognized as essential to environmental sustainability. Yet, little attention has been paid to the human dimensions of this transition—particularly the social and emotional lives of oilfield workers, who are often constructed as barriers to climate progress rather than as participants in its solutions (Daggett, 2018; Destrée, 2023). These predominantly working-class men have developed identities rooted in risk-taking, technical mastery, and endurance (Filteau, 2014; Adams, 2023) but face growing marginalization as fossil fuel labor becomes culturally and politically vilified. Social work, with its commitment to environmental justice (Dominelli, 2011), labor dignity (NASW, 2021), and trauma-informed systems transformation (Fraser et al., 2019), must now consider how to support extractive laborers in ways that affirm both human dignity and ecological responsibility. This study examines (1) the barriers and facilitators experienced by oilfield workers in staying in the industry (2) how social work can foster identity transitions, climate engagement, and economic inclusion among this labor group.

Methods: This grounded theory study draws on 24 in-depth interviews with current and former oilfield workers in the Gulf of Mexico, recruited through snowball sampling and professional networks, with at least one year of offshore or onshore experience. Interviews (60–90 minutes) were conducted via Zoom, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed in ATLAS.ti using Charmaz’s (2006) constructivist grounded theory approach. Coding followed open, axial, and selective phases. Rigor was ensured through intercoder verification, member-checking (n=6), reflexive memoing, peer debriefing, and third-party adjudication (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Nowell et al., 2017). The researcher's insider-outsider positionality as a former oilfield engineer strengthened cultural access while preserving analytic distance.

Results: Findings reveal five interlocking "anchors" that sustain masculine identity in oilfield work: (1) financial security and intergenerational mobility; (2) professional pride in powering the world; (3) kin-like camaraderie and mentorship offshore; (4) adventure, resilience, and exploration; and (5) engagement with high-level technical systems. However, these anchors are increasingly strained by three major "struggles": (1) precarious employment due to industry volatility,(2) physical and emotional tolls of rotational labor, and (3) growing stigma as climate discourse intensifies. Several participants reported shame or concealment of their occupational identity, while many expressed conditional openness to transitioning into renewable energy roles—if identity, dignity, and community could be preserved.

Conclusions & Implications:

This study advances an urgent reframing of climate justice that includes—not alienates—industrial masculinities. Social work can and must lead this reframing. First, practitioners should develop trauma-informed, gender-responsive career transition programs that acknowledge the moral injury and identity disruption associated with extractive labor displacement. Second, therapeutic and peer-led interventions can support grief, relational repair, and identity realignment as oilfield communities face economic transformation. Third, macro-level advocacy must push for just transition policies that center labor dignity, especially for racially and economically marginalized men in energy economies. To lead transformative change, social work must recognize oilfield workers not as boogeymen of climate destruction but as essential collaborators in shaping just, inclusive, and sustainable energy futures.