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Going underground in South African platinum mines to explore women miners’ experiences

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Abstract

Women have worked underground in South African mines since 2003. Their inclusion has been lauded by some as a step in the right direction – that is, towards gender equality in employment, as well as challenging gender stereotypes about work and women’s abilities. This dominant narrative, however, fails to acknowledge and address the challenges faced by women in mining. Using participant observation, living and working alongside women miners over the course of a year, I explored these challenges, and analysed their implications. I argue that if the mining sector wants to fully include women in mining, it needs to go beyond using quotas to achieve gender parity in numbers of women and men workers. While access to these jobs is important, retention depends on addressing the masculine culture which is deeply embedded in mining, making this a very challenging environment for women workers.

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... In the last decade, global mining booms have driven increased attention in both popular media and academic research circles to the challenges facing women miners in a masculinedominated culture (Benya, 2017;Jenkins, 2014;MacPherson, 2017a;Minerals Council of Australia, 2009;Nyabeze, Espley, S., & Beneteau, 2010). This emerging body of gendered mining research originated in Australia where the commodity cycle started its last mining boom in the early 2000s, well ahead of the most recent mining boom that started in Saskatchewan around 2010 (Brier, 2012;Phillips, 2016). ...
... Botha (2016; in times of downturn women may be more susceptible to losing their employment in mining, due to their relatively lower status and seniority within their organizations (Hughes, 2012;Nyabeze et al., 2010). The predominant message from the literature is that a cultural shift is required to attract and retain women in mining (Benya, 2017;Botha, 2016;Hughes, 2012;Lahiri-Dutt, 2015;Mayes & Pini, 2014;Mining Industry Human Resources, 2016). This required cultural shift can be thought of as inclusion, or the acceptance and celebration of differences within an organization. ...
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... Debido a factores asociados a la naturaleza del trabajo minero, principalmente en el socavón; el trabajo minero ha sido tipificado como intrínsecamente masculino (Benya, 2017). Además, los sesgos y prejuicios tradicionales en el sector minero han concebido la presencia de mujeres en las minas como antinatural. ...
... Mining workplaces adopt targets, but chasms between the policy of targets and the reality of women's experiences remain, as does sex-based discrimination (Rolston, 2014). In an exploration of women mineworkers' experiences in South Africa, Benya (2017) shows that although a 2004 Mining Charter introduced a target of 10% women employees, "the assumptions held by workers, the daily practices, and the policies and discourses around mining, are all shaped by male norms" (p. 513). ...
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