- Ms. McKenzie, one of the 2024 Women’s Executive Network Top 100 Powerful Women in Canada, while highlighting various advances in the sector, also noted challenges that are still unresolved. "One of the gaps is the opportunity to grow professionally to achieve senior positions".
“That's part of the problem with our industry. We aren't going to secondary schools or to schools with 9 to 12 year-olds. We have to be talking in our schools about what the opportunities are", reflects Mary McKenzie, Chair of Women in Mining, about how to encourage women to study science-related degrees and work in the industrial sector.
In this regard, she has been one of the key professionals in this area. She has two decades of experience in the natural resources sector, with a particular focus on recruiting corporate and technical talent for the mining and metals industry. “This hands-on exposure deepened my understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities faced by compliance-intensive industries”..
In this regard, McKenzie's career has provided her with the opportunity to inspire and support the involvement of women and the younger generations in the mining industry. “I am particularly proud to have had these efforts recognized with my recent nomination among the 2024 Women’s Executive Network Top 100 Powerful Women in Canada"..
Notwithstanding this, she notes that there are still gaps and challenges."One of the gaps is the opportunity to grow professionally to achieve senior positions." If you look at the CEO level, there aren't many women who hold that position in mining companies”.
Canadian Experience
Regarding how the work on female inclusion began in Toronto, Canada, the Chair of Women in Mining stated that constant networking and conferences were fundamental. "Women holding leadership positions in mining were invited. Women who held senior positions in mining, to inspire other younger women attending to be part of Women in Mining in Toronto as well”.
The professional also added that another fundamental factor has been to involve mining companies not only as patrons and/or sponsors of various initiatives, but also as active participants. “We’ve been trying to get more mining companies involved. They sponsor us, but we want them to participate. So, we've been focused on visiting companies and getting them to give their employees, both men and women, time to attend our discussions"..
It is important to mention that, according to information provided by the Canadian government, an average of 16% of women in that country work in the mining sector, a figure that is low, considering that 48% work in other areas. Meanwhile, according to figures from Fundación Chile, in our country, as of March 2024, total female participation in large-scale national mining increased from 15.2% to 18% between 2022 and 2023.
