In Queensland, the rate of women joining the mining workforce has increased by 2.7% to 14% in the past 12 months, but Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche says more needs to be done to boost the number of women working in the industry.

“With women making up only 14 per cent of our members’ employees and a skills shortage looming, we need to continue to pull out all stops to attract and retain women in our sector,” he said.

Queensland also experienced a steady rise of 1% in the proportion of women working in non-traditional roles, such as engineering, geology, operators and trades.

“In these roles, women made up 10.8 per cent of the workforce, compared to 9.8 per cent the previous year,” Roche said.

“The increasing proportion of women is reflected in the fact that from 2005-06 to 2008-09, female employment in the industry grew by 111 per cent, compared with male employment growth of 64 per cent and total employment growth of 70 per cent.”

In executive and senior management roles in 2005-06, women numbered just 22, but this figure increased to 110 in 2008-09.

From 2005-06 to 2008-09 the number of female engineers increased by 62%, geologists by 59%, tradespeople by 275% and operator/production employees by 207%.

Roche told MiningNews.net the type of role women were typically attracted to depended on their stage in life.

“Many women wanting to return to the workforce after raising families, particularly those living in regional mining centres, are keen to take up opportunities to train as operators,” he said.

“In the professional ranks, engineering is becoming a more popular choice for young women.”

Last year the University of Queensland reported that almost a quarter of students graduating as mine engineers were women – a record number.

Roche said environmental science was another popular choice and many women were working in this profession on minesites in Queensland.

Despite the increase in figures, women still only make up 1% of tradespeople, 8% of operators/production employees, 12% of engineers and 11% of executive management.

A survey carried out by the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 2008 on gender pay equity and work practices revealed that the main issues affecting gender diversity in the resources sector were male-dominated work, leadership cultures and stereotyping; women’s family and caring responsibilities; and differences in women’s ability, power or confidence to negotiate and self-promote in their careers.

AusIMM said in its report that qualitative responses had indicated most respondents were not aware of supportive measures in their organisation.

Survey respondents strongly indicated that gender equity could be improved through the implementation of initiatives involving financial assistance and supportive workplace provisions for carers.

According to the Minerals Council of Australia, the majority of women in the resources industry are aged 34 or under, compared to men in the industry who on average are aged between 45 and 54.

MCA said this was most likely due to a lack of part-time and flexible work arrangements for women of parenting age.

Roche said the skills shortage the resources industry was facing was a huge driver for QRC’s members to do more to attract and retain women.

“For example, many of our members have maternity leave provisions far ahead of other sectors,” he said.

Other areas in which QRC members were active included mentoring and networking programs, recruitment practices that encourage female applicants, employment opportunities for “trailing spouses”, and job sharing, telecommuting and flexible work arrangements.

Roche encouraged initiatives like Anglo American Metallurgical Coal’s “hot seat crew”

The company introduced the initiative last year at its Foxleigh mine to cover regular day-shift operator breaks.

The crews work from 8am to 4pm and the roster provides a flexible and genuine career pathway into the resources industry, especially for people interested in re-entering the workforce.

Of the 19 people trained for the hot seat crew, 14 are female.

“Initiatives such as the hot seat crew are making inroads into bridging the gender imbalance in the resources sector,” Roche said.

QRC has launched several campaigns to attract women into the industry, including a careers marketing campaign and QRC Scholarship Ambassador Program in 2005, and the following year the Women in Resources Action Plan, which aims to increase the proportion of women in non-traditional roles in the resources sector to at least 12% by 2020.

Roche told MNn that based on the current trend, QRC would meet its goal well before then and the council was considering setting a new, more ambitious target for 2020.