Women are underrepresented at all levels within mining companies. Yet opportunities remain for the industry to boost female recruitment, retention, and advancement. We seek to answer two key questions: Why is female representation in the mining sector so sparse? And what can mining companies do about it? To explore these questions, we launched a global survey that received more than 1,000 responses from employees in the mining sector, in 52 countries and in every continent. Respondents included both men and women, ranging from entry-level employees through C-suite executives. We asked responde
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Women are underrepresented at all levels within mining companies. Yet opportunities remain for the industry to boost female recruitment, retention, and advancement. We seek to answer two key questions: Why is female representation in the mining sector so sparse? And what can mining companies do about it? To explore these questions, we launched a global survey that received more than 1,000 responses from employees in the mining sector, in 52 countries and in every continent. Respondents included both men and women, ranging from entry-level employees through C-suite executives. We asked respondents about their professional experiences in mining and how those have attracted and kept them in the industry. We also conducted in-depth interviews with women leaders in mining in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States to help deepen our understanding of some of the issues at play, as well as potential solutions.
We looked at female representation in mining across the three dimensions that are critical to women's progression in the industry: initial recruitment, medium-term retention, and the promotion of women up through the organization. We found that women are, for the most part, attracted to the mining sector by the type and variety of work it offers, the opportunities for professional growth and advancement, and the competitive remuneration. Women report leaving - or wanting to leave - the industry because the qualities that originally attracted them to the field do not anymore. The top reasons for leaving the industry are feeling that work is no longer intellectually challenging and having the perception that there are fewer advancement opportunities than there are for their male colleagues. Interviews with leading women in mining highlight that women experience being sidelined, particularly in technical roles. There is a sense that opportunities for operational experience and frontline mentorship are created proactively for men, while women are expected to have acquired frontline experience 'elsewhere' in order to qualify for advanced technical and leadership roles. Women who return to school to further their expertise feel that their academic skills are underutilized and undervalued, negating their investment in advanced education. There is also a perception that operational experience is rated more highly than advanced qualifications when it comes to attaining advanced technical and leadership roles, but women struggle to access the same 'stepping stone' operational roles as men do in the same organizations. Mining companies are failing to promote women. This is evident from the sparse female representation within senior management roles. More than 44 per cent of female respondents felt that they have not received equal promotion opportunities and 20 per cent of women across tenures said that they are not given the right growth opportunities. Our interviews also revealed that women felt that they are held to higher standards for promotion, particularly in technical, operational, and executive roles.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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