Women leaders in STEM – say what they mean and mean what they say (Part 2)

By Sharyn Macnamara, senior writer at African Mining, incorporating Mining Mirror

Following on from part one of our series on Women leaders in STEM – say what they mean, and mean what they say, covering the Pinpoint Stewards’ 3rd Annual Women & Leadership – in Engineering, Infrastructure and Innovation Conference held from 28–29 February 2024 in Johannesburg; part two discusses the challenges in attraction, retention, development and promotion of women in these sectors. The conference hosted women in the industry who have made notable contributions and strides in bridging the gender gap within STEM, and African Mining highlights some of their key insights into the task at hand.

If South Deep can do it… so can others

On day one of the conference, Dr Adwoa Boaduo Issaka, unit manager: Safety, at Gold Fields, South Deep said, “Gender equality is a fundamental human right,” and yet, the representation of women in STEM fields in South Africa is currently only 28%, which is below the global average of 35%.

Issaka works at the South Deep Mine, and she showcased a refreshingly positive case study of what Gold Fields is doing to bridge the gender gap at the mine. South Deep is ‘putting its money where its mouth is’. The number of females working on the mine has increased from 524 in 2020 to 716 in 2023, and women now represent 28% of the current workforce. This includes 20% female representation in senior management, while 34.6% of the total workforce are professionally qualified women and 19.8% are technically skilled women, which is above the South African Mining average (SAMI 17%; 24% and 18% respectively) says Issaka. Gold Fields has set progressive ESG (Environmental, Governance and Social) global targets for 2027 – at 33%, 35% and 33% respectively.

Issaka noted that at the operation when recruiting and selecting employees – preference is given to women who meet requirements and show capability to do the work and there is a focused approach to the development of women through skills programmes, experiential and immersive training. The mine also actively contributes towards growing the talent pool through provision of bursaries, graduate training, the internship programme and recruitment and training of cadets, who are unemployed youth selected from its host communities as part of the mine’s Social Development Programme. She said, “Gold Fields acknowledges the importance of empowering women to pursue and remain in STEM careers and the company has gone a step further by fostering a global culture of a respectful workplace.”

Generally, Issaka pointed out that, although girls outperform boys in mathematics and sciences at school level globally and locally, only 10% of the 22% of girls in Africa study science after attending secondary school. Barriers she noted were: a lack of role models, a lack of information about sciences and lack of personal efficacy in science careers.

Dr Mamoeletsi Mosia, MD of NRF – SAASTA, concurred, saying that although the number of girls writing Mathematics and Science in South Africa in grade 12 far outweighs the number of boys from 2013 to 2023 – with the gap widening year on year, only 13% of all graduates in the country will leave tertiary education with qualifications in STEM, are women. She added that less than a quarter of candidate engineers in South Africa are women, and only 6% are professional engineers.

 

What more can be done?

Showing how in tune these leaders are with the current challenges and the required solutions, Mosia reiterated some of, and added to, Issaka’s suggestions of how to bridge this stark gap. They both agreed that key role players in industry, caregivers and teachers should: equip the girl child with knowledge and information about STEM careers at grass-roots level; guide her in how to strategically select a career and to position herself to stand out; teach her how to study effectively; and help her to believe and understand that nothing is beyond her reach through role modelling.

Mosia added that making STEM attractive, interesting and relatable through school olympiads, fairs and after-school science clubs are core to driving girls to a love of STEMI (+ Innovation). She challenged the women at the conference to actively ‘adopt a school’ and to organise school industry visits and job shadowing. Most importantly, she drove home the one area women are still very much in control of, by saying, “We must change the pervasive narrative at home and create a new one. Engineering is NOT difficult or dirty; mines ARE places where women can work; there are women who have done that job before…”

Mosia then touched on the sad, but awful reality and elephant in the room – “Women are often their own worst enemies; they are often not supportive of other women in the industry.” She challenged the audience to pay it forward and mentor other women within their reach, to offer their direct teams developmental programmes and to groom them to take over in future leadership positions. And to those in powerful roles – she highlighted they should be advocating for policy framework development to create an enabling environment for women, who are often the main caregivers at home. Conditions of service that do not make sense for a healthy work-life balance should be challenged and changed; maternity leave and flexible working hours should be introduced for those who require it.

Mosia concluded, “Let US be agents of change!”

Go to our daily news page on the African Mining website for part one of our series on Women leaders in STEM – say what they mean and mean what they say.

Stay posted for Part 3 in our print and digital copy of African Mining, incorporating Mining Mirror. Click here to register to receive the publication.

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