Carla Clamp, director at BDO South Africa, explores the challenges holding women back in Africa’s mining industry and why it is imperative to identify and remove such barriers
African Review (AR): Has there been tangible progress of women participation in the South African (and wider African) mining sector in recent years?
Carla Clamp (CC): According to research by the Minerals Council South Africa in 2020, women comprise only 12% of South Africa’s mining industry.
“Women’s participation in the mining industry through direct employment is relatively small, and those who enter the sector tend to remain at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy. Furthermore, women do not always benefit from mining to the extent we might expect, while women’s contributions to the mining sector both in large-scale and in artisanal and small-scale mining remains frequently overlooked.” (APEC).
Similarly, the role and value of women from mining communities often remain invisible or unaddressed. This is an untapped source of employment for women and should become a key area of focus in the future.
Despite this reality, the mining industry is undergoing a significant transformation as it promotes greater gender diversity and inclusivity. In South Africa, the Women in Mining Leadership Forum took active steps to address the disparity of women inclusion by establishing a Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Dashboard for member companies of the Minerals Council to share data on their policies and initiatives addressing gender diversity in the mining industry. This strategy aims to achieve 30% female representation in the industry by 2025 and 40% by 2035, and the targets for women in management positions are 40% by 2025 and 50% by 2035.
AR: What has driven this change and what is continuing to hold it back? 
CC: A recent McKinsey study looking at attraction and retention of women in the mining industry identified some key pointers regarding these factors:
• Women represent an estimated 8 to 17% of the global mining workforce. Breaking down the sector in terms of senior leadership roles, we see that mining is a laggard among laggards: female representation within mining company C-suites sits at 13%. Among S&P 500 companies, there are only 30 female CEOs – not one of them comes from mining.
• While not leaders of the pack, the mining sector (along with utilities and energy) does seem to attract women, with about 40% of entry-level roles being filled by women. But somewhere along the line they lose them – the drop-off from entry level to executive for females in mining is among the most dramatic across all industries studied by McKinsey.
• Women are 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. Remuneration is the highest ranked factor within developing regions (Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa). From a tenure perspective, women with less tenure (fewer than five years’ experience) rank growth opportunities higher than more tenured women.
• Retention. The top reasons for women 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.
• Company culture and lack of diversity beyond the entry level also seem to be factors pushing women out of mining.
• Women who return to school to further their expertise feel that their academic skills are underutilised and undervalued, negating their investment in advanced education.
AR: How would you like to see this change in the coming years and what can be done to encourage this?
CC: It is clear that the ongoing challenges facing the industry today surrounding issues like sustainability and decarbonisation are better addressed through the creativity and strategic resilience that diversity promotes. Additionally, the increasing trend of investors favouring companies that promote ESG goals should prompt the industry to be more deliberate with inclusive policies aimed at empowering women leaders. (McKinsey)
There are several barriers related to inclusion that can and should be addressed to encourage further participation including:
• Accommodating women with children on mines.
• Providing personal protective gear that fits women properly.
• Increasing access to better jobs on the mines.
Projects such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) which aim to address gender and mining-related challenges are crucial in identifying these inclusion barriers and furthering the conversation on empowering women in mining.
AR: With the mining community gathering at Mining Indaba, what would be your key message to conference participants on this subject?
CC: There is a whole lot of untapped potential in women that could be miners that is currently not being assessed or utilised. Given the opportunity, these women could make a huge difference in the industry and can join the ranks of the several women changemakers that have been in the industry. Throughout each discussion in this year’s agenda, it is imperative that we maintain the focus of removing the barriers that keep women from shining and reaching their highest potential in an industry that has been historically male-dominated.
Discover more discussions aroun pertinent mining challenges and the upcoming Mining Indaba conference in the latest issue of African Review, available here.
