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Anik Michaud, Group Director – Corporate Relations, shares her thoughts on the topic of STEM skills, talent attraction and sustainably changing the gender balance.

Promoting equality of opportunity for all and achieving diversity at all levels is a cause that is close to our hearts at Anglo American, and important to talk about this International Women’s Day.

I am proud of the work that we are doing to encourage more women into STEM subjects and the mining industry: it is at the core of our business, as we have embraced a vast global workforce for more than 100 years.

While addressing diversity within large international organisations can be challenging, we have been proactive in improving diversity from the top down, promoting inclusion at every level of the business.

Traditionally, mining is a male-dominated sector but we have seen some improvement in gender inclusion. The industry is changing, and I am inspired by the progress that we are making, particularly within Anglo American, where 30% of our non-executive board is female, well above the mining industry average of 11%. However, we are clear we still have much to do.

A journey towards parity

Beyond board level, we employ a number of incredible women across the company.

One of these standout employees is Prianka Padayachee, a mining engineer in South Africa. Prianka is particularly passionate about mentoring, having gained first-hand experience of its benefits through our coal business’s long-standing mentoring programme.

She believes that by sharing their personal journeys, young women can visualise the path to high achievement and attain professional success.

Now a mentor herself for young woman joining Anglo American and the mining industry, Prianka is a vocal advocate for teaching STEM skills to women and young girls.

As an industry, and within Anglo American, there is still much work to do to ensure gender parity in the workplace. We will continue to work tirelessly to keep this at the top of our corporate agenda.

As we continue to encourage more women and girls into STEM subjects and mining, I look forward to seeing the talented women that come and join our team here at Anglo American. We must continue to advocate for future generations and ensure that, as a business, we can deliver true and lasting equality for an outstanding and deserving workforce.

To all my female colleagues in mining – Happy International Women’s Day!

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