Deshnee Naidoo has spent her career rising through the ranks in mining and feels the change in mentality towards women has been “phenomenal”.
But lately, the former head of Vale Base Metals, a nickel and cobalt producer, has noticed a worrying reaction. When candidates from diverse backgrounds land jobs, some men in the industry have begun using the acronym DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in a derogatory formulation: “I didn’t earn it.”
“I’m hearing more anti-woke voices. “We still don’t know if it will grow or not,” says Naidoo, 48. “We always go back to how things were instead of where they need to go.”
Naidoo’s experience points out how a Transatlantic reaction to diversity initiatives — in which high-profile conservatives have criticized schemes such as bias training or targeting underrepresented groups in recruitment — threatens efforts to reduce inequalities between men and women. In mining, one of the industries furthest behind in terms of gender equality, the risk of reversing hard-won gains is especially serious.
“Globally we are seeing this Andrew Tate effect, where men are taking back the power,” says Stacy Hope, CEO of advocacy group Women in Mining UK, referring to the self-described social media influencer. as “misogynist.” “We need to accompany the men on the journey to ensure they become allies.”
According to some leaders, the belief that women are promoted based on gender, rather than ability, has permeated to middle management and board levels. Naidoo says she has been accused of being “too aggressive and pushy.” “At the executive level, despite the champions we have. . . We simply see ourselves very far from what we need,” she adds. “The industry still looks at the top as it did.”
Mining has made notable progress in gender equality over the last decade. The number of female directors at the 500 largest mining companies rose from 4.9 percent in 2012 to about 18 percent in 2022, according to White & Case, a law firm.
One of the most prominent mining executives is Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, owner of an iron ore empire who has introduced pink mining trucks to raise awareness about breast cancer.
But the industry is far from parity. Of the top 100 mining groups, 16 still had no women on their boards and one in four of the largest 500 companies had none, White & Case figures for 2022 showed. Diversity The situation in “young” mining companies, which explore and develop mines and make up the majority of the industry, remains deplorable.
The fight to recruit women comes as the mining sector, crucial for producing the raw materials for the international shift to clean energy, struggles to attract the most talented staff. Young people, executives say, are increasingly interested in becoming data engineers rather than mining.
A survey of mining industry leaders by the consulting firm McKinsey found that 71 percent said talent shortages were preventing them from meeting production and strategic goals. Other survey conducted by PwC found that two-thirds of leaders expected skills shortages to have a major impact on profitability within the next 10 years.
A particular challenge of extractive industries is location: mines are often in remote locations around the world. Sometimes the rural communities they are in have different standards than Western companies, putting workers at risk of gender-based violence or local backlash.
To align with the interests of a new generation, the industry hopes to increasingly position itself as a technology and data-driven business that doesn’t necessarily involve getting down and dirty in wells or going deep underground.
“I hate when people talk about our industry as heavy industry,” says Hilde Merete Aasheim, who last month ended her five-year tenure as chief executive of Norsk Hydro, Europe’s largest aluminum producer. “That’s an old word, it’s not about raw muscles anymore. “It’s really high-tech.”
Hope says the perception of mining as a “boys club” has done nothing to help him attract women. The industry, she says, must become “visible” to young people, including as an essential sector to meet green goals, such as restricting emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
“We need young people who are innovating with AI and digital toolsets,” he says. “We’re not doing a good job of making it the industry that needs young people and diverse talent to drive that change.”
Management scandals have not helped that reputation. A 2022 report on the work culture of British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto found that harassment and sexism was “systemic” across its workplaces, a finding its CEO Jakob Stausholm called “deeply disturbing.” . Rio has now partly linked executive pay to gender diversity performance and will publish the results of another review this year.
Elizabeth Broderick, a former Australian sex discrimination commissioner who led the Rio report, says discriminatory incidents in mining “were not isolated workplace grievances” but “symptoms of a permissive culture.”
However, the situation across the industry is improving in some aspects. The new amendment to Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act is a “game changer” by making employers responsible not only for responding to complaints but also for taking preventive measures to create inclusive workplaces, Broderick says.
Norsk Hydro’s Aasheim is a woman who has benefited from the support of male leaders throughout her career, which began in a bakery as a teenager. “I’ve never applied for a job,” she says. “But I have had many opportunities because I had key leaders who saw my potential and challenged me on what I could do. . . As leaders, we have to be active.”
But in the face of a backlash against DEI, some say executives need to take a more proactive approach to embed support for the advancement of women throughout the workforce.
“We need to hear men’s concerns about changing workforce demographics and make sure their fears are heard and addressed,” Broderick says. “Organizations that are increasing women’s representation are working [not only] change mentalities and behaviors, but also incorporate everyday respect into their systems and structures.”
Additional information from Nic Fildes