IDWiM 2024: Celebrating Women in Mining

This year’s International Day of Women in Mining (IDWiM) celebrates the theme ‘I am Mining and I Belong’.

IDWiM is an annual global campaign that honours the achievements of all who identify as women and the advancement of inclusion in mining.

To mark the occasion, Katie Fergusson, Group Head of Sustainability at Anglo American, and member of IWiM’s Advisory Council, explained what this year’s theme means to her and how the mining industry can support gender inclusion:

“For me, ‘I am Mining and I Belong’, recognises the broad diversity of people working within, and partnering with, the global mining sector. It means that we can all show up authentically as ourselves, be respected and valued, and therefore contribute to our full potential.

“There is an external perception of mining as still having a very patriarchal culture as a sector. However, that is changing, and the sector has really opened up to how important a more diverse range of perspectives and skills are to increased productivity, innovation, safety, resilience and positive impact.”

On the importance of recognising and celebrating the contributions of women in the mining sector, especially through days such as the IDWiM, Katie said:

“Although there has been some significant progress within the larger mining companies over the last few years – at Anglo American, as of 2023, female representation in the workforce was at 26% and representation in management is at 34% – data indicates that women are still only around 15% of the global workforce in large scale mining.

“So even though there is progress, it’s easy to get complacent and not continue to focus on embedding the change and the gains in a sustainable way, so there is no chance to regress.

“Days like International Day of Women in Mining, as well as the fantastic work of IWiM in other areas, such as research and cross-industry mentoring, are a good opportunity to keep the spotlight on the work still to be done and why it has to involve everyone working within the sector.”

Sharing her insights on how, as an industry, we can collectively support the employment, retention and progress of women in the mining industry, Katie noted:

“Every leader and line manager can play their part in fostering a culture of inclusion where everyone’s opinions are valued and there is zero tolerance on bullying and harassment, ensuring diversity of all forms is a very intentional focus through talent discussions, and encouraging both men and women to take advantage of family friendly policies such as parental leave and hybrid working.

“Mining is a fascinating industry to build a career within: it requires a really broad range of skills; it is global in nature; and many of its products are of critical importance to society and to the decarbonisation of the economy.”

With the continued evolution of the modern mining industry requiring a wide range of skills and competencies, Katie highlighted the exciting opportunities for female talent, including pertinent examples across Anglo American’s operations:

“The acceleration of technology innovation, digital transformation and decarbonisation is opening up many new roles within the sector, requiring new skills and appealing to a broader demographic of talent.

“For example, our Remote Operating Centres in Peru and Chile which use data and analytics from across our Quellaveco and Los Bronces operations to make decisions about every aspect from mine to port, are both run brilliantly by young women, who combine operational understanding and digital skills with strong communication and facilitation skills.

“The industry is changing at speed and to be successful will need to ensure it is able to recruit and retain the best talent and skills – maintaining a strong and intentional leadership focus on inclusion and diversity will be absolutely critical to achieving this.”