UNTAPPED RESOURCES OR WASTED ASSETS? WOMEN IN THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY

Abstract

For the last ten years there has been substantial encouragement for women to broaden their career horizons and enter into non‐traditional areas of work. In the mining industry in particular, women now work as geologists, surveyors, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, environmental scientists, chemical engineers, and production workers, in some of the most remote and hostile locations in Australia. Given the strategic role of the mining industry within the Australian economy, and the resources which individuals, organizations and governments have already invested in training and development, one would expect that these women could look forward to a long and productive future in the industry. Instead, many younger women in particular are considering leaving the industry. In 1991 Commonwealth funding was made available by WREIP for a research project on women in mining. Based on data derived from a workshop based on this research, this article examines the reasons why women are considering deserting a workplace which they strove so hard to enter. It considers issues such as the implications of ineffective management practices, particularly within the context of career development; the implications of management failure to acknowledge the “genderedness” of organizations; and the limitations of current equal employment opportunity and affirmative action legislation to produce the necessary structural and attitudinal changes.