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MINERALS INDUSTRY EDUCATION AND TRAINING II

Summary and Conclusions

This study set out to establish the approximate number of women in
the mineral processing industry, with the aim of stimulating discussion
on the diversity of the industry as a whole, including the attraction and
retention of women. Using available data from previous studies (the IMPC
Commission on Human Resources and the Minerals Council of Australia
report), in addition to delegate lists from selected mineral processing
conferences, it has been shown that the proportion of women graduating
from mineral processing degree programmes and entering the industry
lies between 13.9% and 19.9%, while delegates at conferences comprised
18.8% women. The proportion of women from academia is greater than
those representing industry at conferences across all disciplines within
mineral processing, however there is a large degree of variation between
the disciplines. These numbers are not reflected in the proportion of
women in positions of esteem (e.g. Technical stream chairs, IMPC), however
this study represents a snapshot in time. It might be assumed that this may
change over time.

While this study did not set out to investigate the topic in any further depth,
it is hoped that by increasing awareness of the diversity of the industry, we
can seek to attract and retain the skilled workers and innovators that are
required to meet the broad range of challenges this vital industry will face
in the future.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to MEI (http://www.min-eng.com/ ) for allowing access to
their delegate lists.

Meeting the Challenges of a
166 Section 4
Changing World