The hiring requirement in the mining industry over the next decade
is estimated to be more than 60,000 workers. Of this total, potentially
less than 900 positions are likely to be filled annually by
post-secondary graduates and immigration. As a global industry, the
mining and exploration sector can do more to attract, recruit and
retain its most valuable resource – people.
Many improvements
have been made over the years to evolve exploration and mining
activities from primitive methods and applications into sophisticated
new technologies, responsible environmental and social best practices,
and a global culture that embraces health and safety. However, the
global community is still battling old school myths and realities
surrounding employment in the industry, and the people who represent
it.
The historical images of holes in the earth, natural
forest and wildlife destruction, water contamination, and boom-and-bust
towns still challenges the industry’s reputation today. The same can be
applied to under-represented groups, such as women in mining.
Traditionally, mining has been a male-centric profession. A female
working on a mine site was taboo; breaking the code on the ‘old boy’s
network’ was unheard of, and laws that were introduced in the late 19th
century prohibiting mining firms from hiring women remained unchanged
until the 1970s.
Skills shortage
The cyclical nature of the mining industry results in a continual flux in the total number of people employed in the sector, with boom years inevitably leaving the industry short of talented and skilled employees exactly when they are needed most. But, regardless of our point in the cycle, the demographics of the industry have not changed; it is still anticipated that the mining industry will need tens of thousands of new workers in the next decade to meet its labour force requirements.The average Canadian miner is over 45 years old and a recent Mining Industry Human Resource (MiHR) study suggests that 40% of the mining workforce will be eligible to retire by 2014, taking with them an average of 21 years’ mining experience each and driving the need for skilled workers to up to 90,000 by 2017.
In the years prior to the recent global financial crisis, the mining industry was competing at all levels for skilled employees to tackle capacity issues. In the reverse situation, once the collapse was in motion, companies reacted by slashing budgets, shelving projects and dismissing workers, sometimes in the thousands. In some cases, women were particularly vulnerable to losing employment.
Long-term prospects are positive, however, and the mining industry remains a lucrative employer. In Canada alone, the industry directly employed over 150,000 people with an average weekly wage of C$1,347 towards the end of 2008.
Yet, while the representation of women in mining and exploration in Canada has increased from less than 11% in 1996 to over 14% in 2006, their representation in the sector is significantly lower than in the overall workforce (47.4%).
Furthermore, wage discrepancies between male and female workers range from 22% in coal mining to 43% in the mining-support sector, according to statistics from The Conference Board of Canada and Statistics Canada.
Changing views
The good news, however, is that when attending any mining conference the atmosphere shows a growing demographic shift, and an evolving image for male and female equality. To determine how far this has come, a recent industry study focused on gender was conducted by the Conference Board of Canada on behalf of Women in Mining (WIM) Canada, its major partner in the project, the MiHR, and generous supporters from industry.The aim of the study was to better understand the issues faced by women in the Canadian mining and exploration sector, and establish a baseline for measuring improvements and fostering global change. Entitled ‘Ramp-Up: A Study on the Status of Women in Canada’s Mining and Exploration Sector’, it surveyed 2,040 female employees, employers, students and educators. It was unveiled in March at the third annual WIM International Networking Reception at the 2010 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention.
The results of the study broadens the existing base of descriptive statistics and, more crucially, provides easy access to information on the representation of women in mining, as well as the perspectives of four key stakeholder groups.
Key challenges
Numerous barriers to career success were identified by two-thirds of women either currently or previously employed in the sector, and by one-third of industry employers. While barriers reported by employers as ‘most critical’ were also noted by female respondents, the perspectives of female employees, sector employers and educators differed remarkably.One-third of educators and fewer than 30% of employers believe that working conditions need to be addressed. In fact, with the exception of the need for flexible working arrangements, employers were more likely to report that no barriers exist than to identify a single, challenging working condition.
By contrast, nearly two-thirds of past and current female employees believe that some working conditions in the sector need to be addressed for women to succeed.
Employers and female employee respondents who agreed that working conditions pose challenges identified that two major issues were flexible work arrangements and the workplace culture. As one female employee observed: “For an industry that can cope with the vagaries of metal prices, and supply and demand through advanced schedule optimisation, it seems we should be better able to cope with more variability in the workforce.”
Several female employees stated that supervisors do not offer site experience to women with children or to women they believe plan to have children. It is assumed that field work will conflict with a mother’s caring responsibilities and eventually lead the employee to search for alternate employment. This is an increasingly growing issue for single fathers who are the primary caregiver.
As one mining and exploration employer noted, supervisory roles in the field are currently occupied almost exclusively by men, creating two problems. First, female workers do not have any women on the front line of leadership who they can speak to or mentor under, and, secondly, these field roles are also viewed as an essential experience for individuals developing into more senior roles. While the senior and engineering roles and middle management are currently occupied by a respectable representation of women, the bench strength of women with field experience remains low.
The next generation
The under-representation of women in mining and exploration is also an outcome of the educational pathways that women select for post-secondary education or training. Studies show that young women are not choosing the industry as a career destination, and that fewer students – male and female – are pursuing certifications in the trades. Those doing so account for 1% of the total population aged 25-34 (Canada).Of 100 female students polled in the Ramp-Up study, only 10 were aware of mining and exploration as a potential career. Only five indicated that they planned to seek jobs in the sector. Many of the female students polled have a negative image of mining. Most were, self-admittedly, poorly informed, although some had direct experience in the sector.
One-quarter of respondents who did not choose the sector as a potential career indicated that this was because the working environment or culture was unappealing. Of these 25 women, five had previous contact with or knowledge of the sector through acquaintances or work placements.
A number of students raised concerns about the lack of environmental responsibility in mining and exploration, while another 20 described the sector as one in which the working environment and work practices are “geared only toward men”, and where discrimination is an issue. Ten students also commented that the sector “seems driven toward more physically-motivated persons”, and that all occupations in the sector are labour-intensive and physically demanding.
Dissolving the gender gap
According to the Ramp-Up study, industry cannot rely on a ‘one size fits all’ solution to enhance the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in exploration and mining. It rather evokes an integrated approach to strengthen policy and practice to dissolve the gender gap, and increase the representative number of women well above the current 14%. To measure progress, the study also recommended that while reporting initiatives already exist for companies to voluntarily disclose economic, environmental, and social performance, gender could also be included. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), for example, includes gender diversity as a reported benchmark.Under-representation and under-employment of women is not merely a mining issue. It is a social and economic issue, requiring the attention of public policymakers at provincial and federal level. Nevertheless, several opportunities emerge for employers, industry-level organisations and institutional stakeholders to begin addressing the systemic barriers to the inclusion and advancement of women in the minerals sector.
Immediate measures employers can take include eliminating gender bias in field assignments and work experience through awareness training, the re-evaluation of talent and potential, and analysis of pay practices. The impending labour shortages facing the future mining industry dictated that workplace diversity is not an issue that can be ignored.
The benefits of transforming our mining sector by increasing the representation of women across all occupational areas and levels will improve business performance immediately, and keep the industry economically viable for the future.
Women in Mining
Women
in Mining (WIM) Canada, a national not-for-profit organisation, was
incorporated in 2009 with a desire to collaborate with Canadian WIM
branches and other international women networks to support grassroots
initiatives in the realm of personal and professional development,
while providing a national voice in the global minerals and mining
community.
The International Women in Mining Networking Reception is organised by WIM Canada and various member volunteers.
Getting to the top
Anglo
American’s chief executive, Cynthia Carroll, may be an excellent
example of women advancing to the very top of the mining industry, but
few reach senior leadership roles in mining and exploration.
The
Ramp-Up study found that employees and employers agree that advancement
through the leadership strata is clearly difficult for women. Senior
management and executive roles pose the largest barriers, followed by
the chief executive, middle management and supervisory roles. Technical
and skilled trades also rank highly.
Unsurprisingly, women are
perceived to face the fewest barriers in areas where their overall
representation is already high – for example, administration and
corporate services.
This is due in part to the
under-representation of women in the talent pipeline. However, once
again, women identify that an unsupportive work culture and
relationships with supervisors consistently impedes career advancement.
Many women respondents mentioned that supervisors did not
provide the same career development opportunities that were given to
male colleagues. Reducing travel requirements, however well
intentioned, can also limit critical career development experience.
Catharine Shaw is business development leader in the mining sector at Golder Associates in Canada. She is also a founding member of Women in Mining Canada.A copy of Ramp-UP: A Study on the Status of Women in Canada’s Mining and Exploration Sector can be downloaded from www.wimcanada.org