382
A. Lugonzo and K. Chege
Women tend to gravitate towards the provision of goods and services,
as opposed to seeking to work on mine sites.
35 The challenge in bridging
the gap is how to attract female skills to the mining sector, and retaining
them.
ASM attracts a fair number of women. By 2017, 40.5 Million people
were directly involved in artisanal and small-scale mining around the
world, with 150 million solely dependent on mining activities.
36 Women
account for 30% of the workforce, and in some regions such as South
East Asia women make up to 50%.
37 Though the numbers are significant, the contribution by women relates to subservient and supporting
roles such as panning, washing, transporting material and cleaning. Their
participation in the high income earning mine activities such as owing
license, drilling and extraction of minerals, value addition/beneficiation,
trading, etc., is insignificant.
38 Efforts must be made by all stakeholders
in both the public and private sectors to incentivize women to become
more involved in the mining industry. Several initiatives have been put
forward as will be discussed in this chapter.
b. The Oil and Gas Sector
Similarly, the oil and gas sector has historically been male-dominated,
and there is now surmounting pressure on companies to attract and
retain highly skilled women to the workforce. According to recent
research by McKinsey, the sector struggles to recruit, retain and promote
women.
39 This struggle could be because of the various reasons outlined
above, including outdated perceptions that women either cannot or do
35 Andreas Kotsadm and Anja Karolina Tolonen, ‘African Mining, Gender and Local Employment’ (2015) Policy Research Working Paper; No. WPS 725, http://documents.worldbank.org/
curated/en/199161468187785282/pdf/WPS7251.pdf, accessed May 14, 2020.
36 Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development
(IGF), ‘Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A Review of Key
Numbers and Issues’, https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/igf-asm-global-trends.
pdf, accessed March 24, 2020.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Kassia Yanosek, Sana Ahmad, and Dionne Abramson, ‘How Women Can Help Fill the Oil
and Gas Industry’s Talent Gap’ McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/
oil-and-gas/our-insights/how-women-can-help-fill-the-oil-and-gas-industrys-talent-gap, accessed
February 19, 2020.
A. Lugonzo and K. Chege
Women tend to gravitate towards the provision of goods and services,
as opposed to seeking to work on mine sites.
35 The challenge in bridging
the gap is how to attract female skills to the mining sector, and retaining
them.
ASM attracts a fair number of women. By 2017, 40.5 Million people
were directly involved in artisanal and small-scale mining around the
world, with 150 million solely dependent on mining activities.
36 Women
account for 30% of the workforce, and in some regions such as South
East Asia women make up to 50%.
37 Though the numbers are significant, the contribution by women relates to subservient and supporting
roles such as panning, washing, transporting material and cleaning. Their
participation in the high income earning mine activities such as owing
license, drilling and extraction of minerals, value addition/beneficiation,
trading, etc., is insignificant.
38 Efforts must be made by all stakeholders
in both the public and private sectors to incentivize women to become
more involved in the mining industry. Several initiatives have been put
forward as will be discussed in this chapter.
b. The Oil and Gas Sector
Similarly, the oil and gas sector has historically been male-dominated,
and there is now surmounting pressure on companies to attract and
retain highly skilled women to the workforce. According to recent
research by McKinsey, the sector struggles to recruit, retain and promote
women.
39 This struggle could be because of the various reasons outlined
above, including outdated perceptions that women either cannot or do
35 Andreas Kotsadm and Anja Karolina Tolonen, ‘African Mining, Gender and Local Employment’ (2015) Policy Research Working Paper; No. WPS 725, http://documents.worldbank.org/
curated/en/199161468187785282/pdf/WPS7251.pdf, accessed May 14, 2020.
36 Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development
(IGF), ‘Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A Review of Key
Numbers and Issues’, https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/igf-asm-global-trends.
pdf, accessed March 24, 2020.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Kassia Yanosek, Sana Ahmad, and Dionne Abramson, ‘How Women Can Help Fill the Oil
and Gas Industry’s Talent Gap’ McKinsey & Company, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/
oil-and-gas/our-insights/how-women-can-help-fill-the-oil-and-gas-industrys-talent-gap, accessed
February 19, 2020.