Exploring Factors Affecting Female Career Paths in Mining, Australia

This project delves into the various factors influencing female employees' career choices within the Australian mining industry. It addresses the historical context of gender roles in the workforce, highlighting the under-representation of women in traditionally male-dominated sectors like mining. The study identifies several key issues, including the lack of family role models, societal stereotypes regarding career suitability, negative perceptions and limited awareness of opportunities, and internal workplace challenges such as myths and biases. Data was gathered through interviews and questionnaires from employees in the Australian mining industry, aiming to provide insights and recommendations for increasing female representation and improving their experiences in the sector. The research emphasizes the importance of addressing these barriers to ensure equitable participation and advancement for women in the Australian mining industry, with the goal of fostering a more inclusive and diverse work environment.

Factors Affecting Female Employee’s Career Choice in Mining Industry in Australia
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Table of Contents
1.0. Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 3
2.0. Problem statement ............................................................................................................................... 3
3.0. Aim and objectives/research questions .............................................................................................. 5
4.0. Justification and potential output of the research ............................................................................ 5
5.0. Addressing the challenges……………………………. ...................................................................... 11
6.0 References ............................................................................................................................................…
14
7.0 Appendix................................................................................................................................................ 17

Running head: RESEARCH IN BUSINESS 3
Factors Affecting Female Employee’s Career Choice in Mining Industry in Australia
1. Introduction
Gender discrimination in the job market is conversant because women are involved in jobs that
were initially believed to be of masculine beings. To give a brief description of the history of
where this issue about female employment came from, let us start by going down memory lane.
However, this is as shown from an account where during the colonial period, the men were
working in industries that were producing firearms for battle purposes as the world war was also
going on at the time. At this time, industries had already started coming up, and it was as well the
industrial age. The women were the stay at home people who would take care of the children and
do their usual house chores. The world war causes casualties and most soldiers to die. Due to the
fall in several soldiers, untrained men from the society also had to be picked for them to fight in
the war. They were given some bit of training but just a drop of water in the ocean. These men
fought very diligently and to the best of their ability up until the world war ended. After
caseation of the war, these men came back home only to find that the women who had been
staying at home were now working because food and shelter still had to be provided for the
family when they were at war. The women were working in the jobs that these men had earlier
been working before they went to war. Consequently, this is where the journey of women doing
jobs as equally as men started, all the way fast forward to the current world and age that we are
living in.
2. Problem Statement
Surprisingly, they are up to the task and perform as good as their male counterparts. The
Australian mining industry is no exception where recently, the number of women working in the

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mining industry has been on the rise. However, it has not been a walk in the park for these
women. Several issues have affected the productivity of these women in their place of work
ranging from discrimination against them by their counterparts to the various health issues that
are gender-specific. This paper seeks to delve into the factors affecting women in the job market,
using the Australian mining industry as the case study. The issues to be discussed below are the
ones affecting women in the aforementioned specific location. However, some of them may cut
across women working in the various job industries in the country and the globe as a whole.
In Australia, women account for almost 46% of the total number of employees. However, in
industries such as construction, utilities, and mining, they are very few women ranging from
10% to 15% of the total number of workers. There are various reasons why women in Australia
are discouraged from doing a well-paying job in industries dominated by men (Butler, 2006).
They can be attributed to the fact that there are not as many role models within the family
settings or the surrounding, conventional image about the nature of women’s work and cultures
in the workplace that discourage women’s’ career advancement. Some leaders in Australia and
the world at large have realized the underutilization of women skills in the job industry and have
taken steps to curb the problem. They have taken considerable steps to ensure that women are
highly effective in various industries by advocating for change in companies organizational
structures. Women incorporation does bring a view of specific issues from both sides of the coin.
It gives a bird’s view of the effects of individual decisions that a country takes. A country’s most
valuable asset is its people because it is the people who make and build a nation. Determinations
that a country makes are always supposed to be in the best interest of the citizens, and most
importantly, they should never favor one gender at the expense of the other gender. Thus women
participation helps in mitigating such issues that might arise from inequitable decision making.

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For these leaders to ensure women participation in the economic and social development of the
country, they have to be fully aware of the challenges they are facing. Such problems are going
to be discussed in subsequent chapters of this paper, and their recommendations.
3. Aim and objectives/research questions
Information about the bottlenecks faced by women in career advancement was collected from
interviews and roundtables with all employees in the mining industry of Australia. The feedback
was essential to find ways to increase women representation in the job industry. The information
was confidential, and no names or whatsoever kind of unintended details were to be released to
the public. Some of them were given questionnaires to fill and give feedback on their working
condition. A sample of men was also collected to act as control experiment and provide feedback
of what they feel about the inclusion of women in the mining industry of Australia (Morris et al.,
2006).
4. Justification and potential output of the research
Lack of family role models was identified as one of the significant factors affecting women
representation in the job industry. Children follow their parents’ social behavior and will inherit
most of their attributes from the immediate environment in the primary locale where they grow
up. In the case of Australia, women in the mining industry were not as many, and that is why
young females have no one to care. Young men do have an added advantage of going to the field
mines with their fathers and seeing how the while mining action is going on. However, they tend
to pick up the traits and skills that their fathers possess in their work environment. They watch
and observe keenly to what their parents are doing. Girls, on the other side, to stay at home with
their mothers learning other chores. This trend, however, is changing because children are being

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aware of more opportunities outside there than staying enclosed in any mining town. They seek
to explore opportunities in the outside world, and hence, the issue about boys having an added
advantage is something that is slowly fading away. It is not until the later years in life that most
women come in contact with people of the same gender working in the mining industry.
Furthermore, it mostly occurs in formal settings where they are not free to ask a lot of questions
and have a personal touch with fellow women in the mining industry. Lack of mentors models in
the mining industry will provide mentorship for the young tucks in the country (Sullivan &
Baruch, 2009).
Typecasts about career choices that are women-dominated and male-dominated have played a
significant part in influencing women career choices as far as the mining industry is concerned.
The society believes that some jobs are performed better by men as compared to women. More
so, this goes back in someone’s education where science subjects are considered to be performed
better by boys. The arts subjects are left to the girls. Such choices affect their career path in the
future where girls take arts subjects and later on art courses and thus become difficult for them to
work in the mining industry. The boy and girl courses’ mentality has contributed heavily to the
absence of many women in the mining industry. A person is or becomes what he or she thinks,
therefore if one puts a certain mindset in a girl child that a particular career choice is not for them
but boys, then that person will have that mentality for the better part of her life. What is even
worse is that the same person is going to pass that same mentality to her kids who may end up
also not taking up mining courses because mommy said so. It is a ripple effect which has long
term consequences. It becomes easier for boys who did science subjects to pursue engineering
and science-related courses in college and work in the mining industry. The stereotypes are
encouraged by parents and relatives in Australia by advising their children to take art subjects

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and depress them from pursuing science subjects. Also, this is then reinforced in school by their
teachers painting a negative image in the society about girls who take science courses (Osborne,
2013).
Another barrier for women is negative perception and lack of awareness about career
opportunities in the mining industry. The negative attitude is about an individual’s aspect and has
nothing to do with influence by family members and the society at large. Some women have
pursued science related courses and education in the mining industry but do not apply for roles in
their area of specialization. This fear of the unknown has killed many dreams and careers which
were supposed to be successful. They are scared because they heard one lousy story forgetting
that situation in the workplace are different and unique in their way. Most people tend to believe
the first side of a story that they here, they never have the time to start doing investigations as to
what might be the other side of the story. So they only hear and believe what they are told first,
irrespective of whether the information is legit or not. They go ahead to act on what they have
been notified and at times end up missing on excellent opportunities. So if the negative feedback
about the mining industry is fed to someone, that someone might decide to avoid anything in
regards to being employed in the mining industry. That someone may also go ahead and spread
the negative feedback to another person who might probably also end up believing the same
news. Bear in mind that the person who has passed this negative feedback for the second time
has never worked in the mining industry. So much negative feedback goes on and on and needs I
did not mention the results of all this. Lack of awareness about career opportunities for qualified
women has proven to be another stumbling block. Qualified women may be willing and able to
work, but they don’t know where to look. Such information asymmetry has contributed to factors
affecting women career choice in the mining industry where they may choose an alternative

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career path just to put food on the table. When a woman graduates from a tertiary institution and
is ready to join the labor market, lack of various career opportunities in the relevant fields
discourages them, and most don’t know where to look for jobs.
Apart from external factors, there are other internal challenges now in the workplace in Australia
mining industry. These roadblocks affect the women who have already secured a job and are
already working. One of them is myths and stereotypes about women in the workplace. Women
are mostly assumed to lack the drive, passion, aspiration, and ability to motivate them in the
mining industry. Generalization of people is not a good thing as it is a terrible based way of
judging people. People, at times, develop group mentality pictures due to the action of one
person or a single unit of data. They come up with ideologies that cover everyone close to the
background of the doctrines. Due to the action of one person, many are crucified. This usually is
not the right way of looking at things, especially when it comes a time that you are the victim or
the one in the shoes of the people that you are currently generalizing. Negative perceptions about
a particular issue(s) of a single person tend to be generalized more in society. The positive
attributes, on the other hand, are rarely widespread and are attributed solely to the doer of the
action. There has to be some balance in this case. Ideally, everybody should be treated as a
separate entity and judged on their individual’s performance. The role of women in the
community, such as caring and motherhood, is also used as a justification by various mining
companies in Australia to exclude women from recruitment and development activities. These
should not be the issue since some women are adequately skilled, have high productivity rate,
and are very committed to their careers. Every person should be given an equal opportunity to
showcase their ability in the workplace without any gender-based discrimination against women.

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Workplace culture in several mining organizations has been a challenge to women who seek to
pursue careers in the mining industry. The mining industry comprises of male. Hence, they are
perceived to have a male philosophy. Since there are a considerable number of men, they tend to
bear a higher level of mistreatment, sexual nuisance, and judgment. To the men, this might be a
norm, but in a real sense, it makes most women shy away from the mining industry. The female
gender experiences fear in such scenarios because of the uncertainty of anything happening, and
it is just too challenging to be sure that they are safe in such a male-dominated industry which
cases of harassment and abuse happen at times. There is also the issue of how these harassment
and bullying cases are handled. How far do they go in terms of the culprits being brought to
book? Or are they let scot free at the end of the process? This is a real issue because it involves
violation of human rights, not only in Australia but also across the world globally in all
countries. This is because of the general perception that jobs in the mining industry might be a
challenge not only in a senior position but at every stage of their career. The organizations
should have a zero-tolerance culture to bullying, discrimination, and any sexual harassment.
Moreover, most of the women who are harassed or discriminated also keep quiet about it and fail
to report to the relevant authorities. This may also be due to the fact that the judicial system is
too lenient that the culprits are not charged in a court of law even when the presented evidence
proves that they are guilty beyond any doubt. This will promote gender inclusivity culture in the
industry and women to enroll in the mining industry careers (Eveline, 2010).
Perception and actual gender-specific bias against women concerning recruitment, development,
and career advancement have deterred women from pursuing careers in the mining industry. First
of all, when it comes to hiring, a woman may go to a job interview with a negative attitude that
there is discrimination against women and not give her best. Such factors will result in the

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woman not getting hired and later on complain that there is discrimination. In another situation
where a woman is recruited, she may be comfortable with where she is and not work hard. On
the contrary, female employees may be discriminated against career advancement by the
company not promoting them to senior positions even after they have worked hard to deserve a
promotion. Whenever you compare education and training of specific skills, only men can be
selected, denying women an opportunity. This may, later on, be the reason of them not earning a
promotion because they don’t have the specific skill required. This bias may be either implied or
real (Eveline, 2010). Training of staff who are employed in the mining industry is another case as
to who gets to have the pie. If women see no opportunity of training and growth in a certain
industry, they will most definitely shy away from that career. Gender balance in training and
growth is very critical to the growth of a company which contributes to the growth of the
industry and finally to the growth of the economy of a country.
Structural rigidity in the mining industry of Australia is also part of the reason why women are
not pursuing careers in this sector. Employees in this industry work for long hours since it has a
culture that does not offer flexibility and life-work balance. This is a challenge to people who
have to travel to remote areas which are far away from their place of residence. This is
discouraging to women who have families and would like to spend some time with their families
to strengthen the bond between the mother and the children. For instance, a mother who has a
newborn baby will find it hard to work in the mining industry for long hours since a newborn has
to be breastfed frequently. The structural organization of the industry is so rigid that it cannot
incorporate a system where it can allow the mother to balance family life and job life at the same
time. This will deter women from working in the mining industry, and they will go for jobs that

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offer more flexibility to juggle in between work and family life at the same time (Gary M.
Misan, 2015).
5. Addressing the challenges
The organizations at large have to adopt systems and devices that could increase women
depiction in the job market. They include effective mechanisms in the significant areas of
attraction, employment, retaining, and expansion of women in the mining industry. One of the
recommendations, according to the research conducted was to ensure the recognition of women
in the workforce and the skills and abilities they pose to improve productivity in the mining
industry. This will enlighten everyone in society, including men to accept that women too have
abilities like theirs. It will also encourage women since it would mean equal opportunity in the
mining industry and career development based on performance.
Structural flexibility is also an essential factor such that every person’s unique need is met at the
workplace. If a woman has to take care of some family duties, then the organization can design a
work plan together with the employee in such a way that the latter will not be inconvenienced. It
can be agreed that the workers in the mining industry work in shifts such as day and night shifts,
then individuals choose the appropriate time for themselves. This will also increase productivity
since everyone is happy and very comfortable with the time frame in which they work. The
overall productivity if the organization will increase, leading to the overall improvement of the
country’s production (Lingard & Lin, 2004).
They are changing the organization’s culture to embrace diversity and flexibility where women
are treated fairly by their colleagues and given equal opportunity. Sexual harassment, bullying,
and gender-based discrimination will decrease in the industry and the country at large. This will

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create a conducive environment for women to work. Every other person in the mining industry
will be excited about their job and have every reason to wake up in the morning and go to work
in a jovial mood (Pearl-Martinez, 2017).
It is also critical to educate the society on gender inclusivity in all careers to eradicate the
stereotypes such that the mining industry is a male-dominated sector. More women should be
encouraged to take up leadership roles in the mining industry to be a role model for young girls.
This will increase the number of mentors in Australia and have people whom young girls will
look up to and strive to follow their footsteps. Awareness campaigns and educating young
women about future roles in the mining industry will improve women involvement in mining
diligence. Teachers and parents who discourage their children from pursuing careers in the
mining industry and other sectors presumed to be male-dominated should be encouraged to allow
children to decide their career path. This is one key factor that should be implemented since it
instills in children the right information to face the future in male-dominated careers. It gives
them the oomph to keep pushing despite the challenges ahead (Pearl-Martinez, 2017).
When the suggestions provided are put in place, among others, there will be an increase in
women participation in the mining industry. More women will be encouraged to be at the
forefront to earn their place in the industry. They will take up leadership roles without any fear
and give their best to improve performance in the Australian mining industry. Increase in the
number of women in the mining industry and job market will bring along many benefits to the
mining industry and the country (Torkington, Larkins & Gupta, 2011).
The benefits that come along with embracing gender equality in various organizations in
Australia and any other country are too many and quite essential to be overlooked. First and

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foremost, there would be a significant improvement in the economic performance of Australia,
as indicated by previous research. For example, the Grattan Institute reported that an increase in
female labor force participation from the current rate to Canada’s 62.4% would increase the
country’s GDP by $25 billion in a decade. Similarly, Goldman Sachs indicated that reducing the
gap between male and female employees would boost the GDP of Australia by 11%. There will
be an increase in the general economic performance of the country (Drago & Heywood, 1995).
Increase in women in the workforce would mean a decrease in the rate of unemployment. The
number of women willing and able to work will increase, leading to an increase in the price of
employment. Consequently, a decrease in the dependency ratio will enable women to earn
income as their male counterparts (Davies, Taylor & Savery, 2001). Consequently, there will be
an increase in revenue for the family, therefore, raising the standards of living in the country.
These benefits trickle down to the production if social services such as health facilities,
education, and entertainment. Many people will now afford better health services and quality
education due to increased income. The government will benefit from the increase in per capita
due to the rise in Gross Domestic Product and the number of individuals working (Cohen &
Golan, 2007). There will also be increased in government revenue due to increase in tax received
from the people.
Increase in women participation also comes with some social benefits such as peace and
harmony in families and the whole community. When women are employed, family conflicts
will reduce since responsibilities will not overburden the father or rather men. In a family, both
the mother and father can work together in providing for the family. The women will also be
contented since they have equal opportunity in terms of career advancement and the amount of
income they can earn. When men and women work together, it promotes unity in society (Butler,

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2006). There can be intermarriages between different communities working in the mining
industry, strengthening the bond in the cities and promoting the country’s national unity.
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Women’s representation in Australia
• All industries: 45.7% of employees 33% of managers
• Construction: 11.8% of employees 16% of managers
• Mining: 15.1% of employees 13% of managers
• Utilities: 22.6% of employees 16% of managers