More and more companies are taking commitments regarding equal female participation in its staff. This as one of the relevant criteria in terms of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards.
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To mobilize efforts towards a more representative participation of women, movements such as Women In Mining Colombia have been created, which “seeks to promote the participation and professional development of women in the national mining industry”.
However, the figures are not yet encouraging. According to Andrea Lemus, president of Women In Mining Colombia, the percentage of total participation of women in the sector is 13%.
“Despite the fact that the figures have increased in recent years, the percentage of women’s participation in the mining sector continues to be very low,” Lemus points out.
Although, when reviewed by levels, there are some, such as the administrative levels, that have a better proportion of women (41%), in the operation there is still an important gap, since only 20% of jobs are held by women, according to the sectoral study of gender equality for the mining-energy sector published by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and prepared jointly with the IDB, Corewomen and Insuco in 2020. This shows that for management, 1 out of 4 positions are occupied by women.
However, Lemus assures that in the case of small-scale and subsistence mining, andThis trend is reversed and in fact female participation is the majority, with 50.9% of the total jobs. “In recent years, the situation has improved,” she says.
(Read: Mineros Colombia closes 2022 with sustainable recognitions).
Nevertheless, it is estimated that at the current rate it takes 132 years to close the gap in the mining sector and reach gender parity, says the Global Gender Gap report 2022 from the World Economic Forum.
In this context, Women In Mining UK recognized 100 women for their work in supporting this goal among more than a thousand applications. Among those selected was the Colombian Cheryl Velásquez, one of the most active figures in the inclusion of women in the industry. “The idea is that there is participation of women from the operation up to the board of directors”, assures the Strategy and Marketing manager at Relianz Mining Solutions.
For this, he considers that they should be demolished a series of myths related to female participation in certain tasks, as well as cultural changes and greater training in areas related to mining.
In this he agrees with Lemus who affirms that “With this, we will be able to close the gaps that exist in a significant way and, in addition, begin to break the paradigms that have led us to masculinize the industry in all its phases.”.
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Velásquez precisely points out that in the mining operation, for example, in the pits, the presence of women is more an exception than a rule and according to his estimates it could be a 12% proportion. This is due to some exclusive legislation such as article 242 of the Substantive Labor Code, which did not allow women to work in underground mines and which was declared unenforceable by the Constitutional Court.
This is added to a series of cultural beliefs such as that the female presence in the mines was a “bad omen”, according to Velásquez. Therefore, he stressed that the work should be given to a cultural level as well as from work to raise awareness among companies to improve their hiring policies.
Lemus also emphasizes that to achieve the goals they are working on 4 lines of action: empowerment, education, alliances and networking and positioning. With this they hope to achieve greater gender equality.
For his part, Velásquez assures that it is important to have a good education and greater inclusion in related careers. Thus women who enter the industry do so for their preparation.
Additionally this would allow women to climb inside and remove the glass ceilings. Among the aspects that the Strategy manager has to ensure that there is a greater retention of female talent, which is disruptive and contributes to the growth of companies.
Both Lemus and Velásquez hope that the number of close to 20,000 women miners in Colombia will increase with quality positions and in all the links of the chain.
Daniela Morales Soler
