Women making strides in minWhile the workforce in the mining industryis predominantly male, some women areascending to senior leadership positions,a positive development that may signal agrowing role for women in the industry.
BEYOND BORDERS | A BARRICK GOLD REPORT ON RESPONSIBLE MININGingTracey Beck doesn’t like to make a fuss about it. Neither does Helen Robinson or JulieShuttleworth.“I don’t like people highlighting that I am a woman working in mining,” says Beck,a Production Superintendent at Kalgoorlie Consolidated <strong>Gold</strong> Mines (KCGM), a jointventure in which <strong>Barrick</strong> and Newmont Mining each hold a 50 percent interest.Robinson is a Business Administration Manager at KCGM who oversees the company’sfinance, information technology and continuous improvement departments. Alongwith Beck, she is one of eight women who have ascended to senior management rolesat the Australia-based operation. Shuttleworth, General Manager of <strong>Barrick</strong>’s GrannySmith mine in Western Australia, is <strong>Barrick</strong>’s first female general manager. “When peopletalk about ‘women in mining,’ sometimes I cringe because, for me, if you’re good atyour job that’s what you should be recognized for,” she says.While Shuttleworth and Beck would prefer not to be singled out because of their gender,the reality is mining remains a male-dominated industry. Global statistics quantifyingthe number of women in mining are hard to come by, but a 2010 report by Women inMining Canada, a non-profit organization focused on advancing the interests of womenin the industry, offers some perspective. According to the report, which cited the mostrecent data available from Statistics Canada, women represented about 14 percent ofthe workforce in the Canadian mining industry in 2006. The vast majority worked inadministrative or culinary jobs, while men predominated in front-line and skilled positions,the report found.Jean Lucas, President of Women in Mining Canada, says reports by peer groups inthe United States, Australia and the United Kingdom produced similar findings. Severallong-standing factors account for the relative dearth of women in the industry, accordingto the Women in Mining Canada report. These include lack of flexible hours; an unsupportivework culture, which can mean anything from resistance from male colleaguesto a lack of female change rooms and washrooms at a mine site; outdated perceptionsof the industry as dirty, dangerous and low-tech; and the absence of female role models.“There are few women in leadership roles, so young women don’t see opportunities forsuccess,” Lucas says.This needs to change, she adds, noting that the mining industry is struggling with aworldwide skills shortage that is expected to intensify. The Canadian mining industrymay need as many as 100,000 new workers in the next decade, while the Australianmining industry may need as many as 170,000 in the next five years, according to recentmedia reports. It is unlikely that these needs will be met without a substantial increasein the number of women employees, Lucas says.There are signs of progress. At KCGM, 213, or 28 percent, of the company’s 780 employeesare women. “Men, women, black, blue, purple, we have a league of nations here andwomen work in all areas of the operation,” Robinson says.Russell Cole, General Manager of KCGM, says the operation has always focused onemploying the best person for the job, regardless of gender, nationality or personal circumstance.His comments echo <strong>Barrick</strong>’s approach, which is to hire based solely onmerit. The company considers men and women equally in its search for new employees,TOP LEFT: SEVEN OF THE EIGHT WOMEN AT KALGOORLIE CONSOLIDATED GOLD MINES WHO HAVE ASCENDEDTO SENIOR LEADERSHIP ROLES AT THE BARRICK JOINT VENTURE. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, MAEVE REIDY, JODIERUSSELL, DELWYN SENGALLI, TRACEY BECK, MICHELLE BERRYMAN, KAREN JOHNSON, HELEN ROBINSON.MISSING IS JACQUI NIEMAND. INSET: HELEN ROBINSON, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MANAGER AT KCGM.41
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