The issue of gender inclusion once again featured in this year’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town in February. And there were no surprises – mining is still very much a man’s world, particularly at the senior executive management level.
“Women in high mining positions tend to refer to the sector as an old boys’ club. Whilst the numbers of men and women who enter the sector at graduate level are more or less the same, there are few females in senior leadership roles,” says Claire McMaster of Women in Mining South Africa (WiMSA), referring to her own country.
Whilst South African companies manage to attract women at the entry level, they seem to fail to keep them and see them through to the higher echelons of management structures.
“According to our research, 50% of women who are working in the South African mining sector are between 26 and 35 years old. However, by the time they are 55, this percentage is down to 3%.”
South Africa however is not the world’s worst performer in terms of gender representation in the extractive industry, on the contrary. Mining For Talent, a 2015 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), shows 19.8% of all executive management positions of the top 100 mining companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) are held by women. This is considerably higher than economies such as Australia (7.5%), the United States (12.1%), and United Kingdom (4.6%).
In addition, South Africa’s ratio of female board members of the JSE’s top 100 mining companies stands at 16.8%. Africa’s second largest economy hereby outperforms Australia (14%), the UK (15.3%), and the US (11%).
The situation is however not ideal, says McMaster. The main reasons South African women decide to leave the mining sector include a rigid glass ceiling that prevents them from moving up and paternalistic views on how women should behave in the work environment.
“For a young woman who is working in the sector, assertiveness is often viewed as aggressiveness by male superiors,” she says, adding that this deters women from staying.
Thuthula Balfour-Kaipa, who heads the South African Chamber of Mines’ health division, agrees. The patriarchal nature of South Africa’s extractive sector also discourages women from asking for raises, better opportunities and promotions.
“Psychologically, we are not used to ask for a better deal because it is seen as demanding. Men, however, do tend to ask for better opportunities. Millennials are changing this around. They are confident enough to ask for what they want.”
What doesn’t help is the fact that men are still often seen as more important employees than women, says Balfour-Kaipa.
“At the work place, men are seen as the main breadwinners, whilst women tend to be seen as supplementary,” she says. “When it comes to retrenchments, male workers tend to be viewed as people who have a family to provide for, whilst when it comes to women, people assume they have a man looking after them.”
A lack of successful role models, mentors, and guidance is another reason women leave mining prematurely, says McMaster. According to a 2014 WiMSA study, 62% of respondents complained about poor access to relevant role models and mentors, whilst 54% agreed on a lack of career and development guidance relevant to them.
“That is why we at WiMSA are running a project which has identified 13 senior mining women as patrons,” McMasters says. “Women in our very male-dominated industry need role models like Deshnee Naidoo, CEO of Vedanta Zinc International. They need to know they can achieve that too.”
So why should mining companies work to retain its women employees, and groom them to become senior executives? According to McMaster, the answer is simple.
“Various research reports have shown having a critical mass of women on your board and in your senior leadership team positively impacts on your financial metrics, decision-making, transparency, and corporate governance,” she says.
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, Chair of the JSE and former CEO of steel and mining firm ArcelorMittal South Africa, concurs. Making space for women makes business sense.
“It does not make sense to draw skills and expertise from just one half the population, particularly if you want to create a competitive advantage now that mining is struggling due to commodity volatility,” she says.
“If you focus on just men, how do you know you will get the right skills for your company? In my view, you are creating more risks if you are not embracing this particular topic, and not including women.”

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A Glass Ceiling Even A Pickaxe Can’t Break

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently released their survey Women in Business and Management Gaining Momentum which notes that globally whilst women have increased their share of management jobs and as entrepreneurs over the last two decades, all data sources and analyses report a continuing dearth of women in top decision-making positions, as CEOs and board members. In coming up with their findings, they extend on the terminology used to describe the problems women face. We all know about ‘glass ceilings’ and many have heard of the ‘slippery ladder’ where women do not even get to the glass ceiling as they have fallen off the career ladder for whatever reason before they even get a chance to come up against the glass ceiling. The ILO now talks about ‘glass walls’ which they define as segregation by gender within management occupations.
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Whilst it may not be their original quote, it notes that “one of the reasons why it can be more difficult for women to be selected for top management jobs is their management experience is not sufficiently diverse. They have not been exposed to all types of company operations during their careers and thus have not gained sufficient experience in general management across several functional areas”.
So in addition to having glass above our heads, we now have glass on our sides as well. We allow ourselves to be placed in career silos. We need to stop doing this and realize that a well-rounded career is vital to get to the top. At least metaphorically, we are surrounded by glass, so we are still able to see where we are going. Whether we are able to use our other senses to navigate is open for debate. The survey revealed 34% of the companies responding indicated that retention of women was a problem. Is this surprising when women are placed into these silos, or rather allow themselves to be, as much as they are?
Interestingly, with regards to women in management positions, some African countries do quite well. Of the 124 countries surveyed globally, Ghana is placed 26th with 39% of all managers being women.  Botswana is 28th and Namibia 37th with 38.6% and 36% respectively. Interestingly, Botswana was one of the countries noted that achieved a 7% or more increase in the share of women in management between 2000 and 2012. That is very encouraging.
Like many surveys of this nature, the implementation of company policy measures on how to solve the problems features prominently. The results this time around though are quite interesting and go away from the norm. About 84% of companies indicate they have maternity leave as part of policy. Why are we even discussing this in this day and age? In contrast, parental leave, i.e., no gender connotation, is practised by 51% of the responders.
It is worth noting what the ILO suggests companies do in order to advance women: Explain and provide evidence on the business case for more women in management; network with other companies on good practices; provide good practice examples of measures and strategies to promote women in management; develop a strategy to promote more women in management; design an equal opportunity policy; network with women’s business associations; provide guidelines on gender sensitive human resource management systems; develop guides on measures and strategies to promote women in management; introduce a mentoring scheme; design a sexual harassment policy; and introduce a sponsorship scheme.
It is significant the first item is the need to explain and provide evidence on the business case. There are pockets of areas globally where the business case has been proven and accepted. In these areas they have moved onto the next step of implementation by those who have been convinced. Sadly, Africa to date is not one of those pockets.

Tag: Gender

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

A Glass Ceiling Even A Pickaxe Can’t Break

Glass Ceilings, Glass Walls?