A recent global study by McKinsey found that CEO’s believe the top four attributes for leadership success are intellect and stimulation, inspiration, participatory decision-making and setting expectations and rewards. As these attributes were most commonly found in female leaders, it begs the question, why are there so few on the top rung, and even fewer still in male dominated industries such as mining?

The problem really is industry-wide within mining. A Women in Mining report (2013) by Amanda van Dyke (Chair of the organization Women in Mining) and Stephney Dallmann (of PriceWaterhouseCoopers) found that mining companies have the lowest number of women on boards of any listed industry group in the world. There are, of course, many companies at early stages of development and they have only a few board seats to fill; but if they expect to grow and mature, there is no time like the present to lead the way in increasing women at executive management level roles within mining. The likelihood that women will have a board seat or participate in a board committee not only varies by company size, but also by geography. For example, 21% of the committee seats of listed South African mining companies are occupied by women. Prior to the 1990s, South African women were prohibited or otherwise constrained by legislation from being employed in mining activities underground, so they did not get the chance to attain any experience which would have opened the doors to senior positions within the industry.

Another country with a positive story to tell is Canada, which has the highest number of listed mining companies. They are also further forward in terms of understanding the importance of the role women play on boards, with the top-tier Canadian companies having nearly 14% of board directorships held by women. But these are two countries are in the minority. An inability to embrace women at high level management has real-world consequences for shareholders and stakeholders in the communities where the miners operate. Mining companies with women on their boards see performance improvements on a number of fronts, from financial to social as well as environmental performance. Additionally the amount that mining companies spend on community initiatives does seem to exponentially increase with the number of women on the board. The WIM report also stated that profit margins are higher for mining companies with women on their boards and this is consistent with the findings of other studies. It cited a similar survey undertaken by Catalyst, a Canadian pressure group, which showed that companies with women on their boards also benefited from higher return on sales, equity and invested capital. Similarly, a study by the Credit Suisse Research Institute found that companies with women on their boards have a higher return on equity, lower gearing, higher price/book value and better than average growth.

When the WIM report was issued, women occupied 8% of the board seats of the top 100 global mining companies, and just 4% when this widened to include the top 500 companies. However just 1% of the executive directors of the top 100 companies are women, with the rest holding non-executive roles. Among the next 101-500 companies the figure is slightly higher, at 3%. Overall, among the top 500 mining companies, women hold just 3% of the directorships. The WIM report also acknowledges that mining is a sector where finding women to undertake senior roles is a “challenge”, partly because women are less likely to stay in mathematics and science education. Other factors include the need to travel abroad and take roles in remote or obscure areas – which is not always a viable option owing to family responsibilities.

However women are making the necessary strides to succeed in the industry and one such example is Neala Gillespie, whose career in mining has spanned over 25 years and taken her all over Australia, as well as Africa, North America and South America. She currently works in an operational capacity on a remote mine site in Ghana and is their Occupational Health Safety Manager.