The gender imbalance in the Canadian mining industry is considerable and persistent. Despite a substantial forecasted labour shortage, women represent only 14% of the national mining workforce. This research investigates the underutilization and under-representation of a specific labour subset, namely Highly Qualified Women. Highly Qualified Women (HQW) are women who have obtained a Bachelor’s degree or higher. HQW represent a substantial source of technical and leadership capacity for the mining industry.