Mining Review, May 27, 2014 (online link to this story)
Only 9% of fulltime workers in the mining industry are women, who hold less than 1% of board or executive management positions, according to a survey by the NSW Minerals Council.
Comment by International Women in Mining Community:
This statistic seems odd and in contradiction with the figure of 15%-18% that you normally hear for the women in mining population working in Australia. Is the figure so much lower in New South Wales?
NSW Women in Mining: A Snapshot questioned 170 current and past female employees. The survey found that over 30% of women in mining, the largest proportion, are employed as machinery operators or drivers.
Comment by International Women in Mining Community: This is also surprising as women in trades tend to be the smallest proportion within women working in the sector.
Furthermore, 93% of women working in the mining industry would actively encourage more women to take up a career in the industry, including in roles operating of heavy vehicles and machinery. 71.4% of those who were surveyed think that more should be done to encourage women to take on a career in mining.
“The responses showed women in mining are passionate about where they work and what they do, from operators and administrators through to trades and engineers, including some that are emerging in important leadership roles. But clearly much more needs to be done to attract and retain women into mining, and provide career development and senior leadership opportunities,” said NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee.
More findings of the survey are presented in this infographic.
Comment by International Women in Mining Community:The bottom part of the infographic seems to suggest that most companies are successful in retaining female employees and offer flexible solutions and appropriate equipment. How does that compare with all of Australia and other countries? It seems quite high. Well done NSW in any case, seems like it is on the right track.
