MUJERES Y LA MINA DEL FUTURO

The report analyzes the participation of women in Chile's large-scale mining sector, noting an increase in female employment from 6.16% in 2010 to 10.06% in 2021. While there is growth in leadership roles and professional engineering, women remain severely underrepresented in core operational and maintenance roles. Significant gender pay gaps persist, particularly in support services, and women face systemic barriers including sexual harassment, gender stereotypes, and a lack of childcare infrastructure. The document emphasizes that large-scale mines drive the overall increase in female participation, while smaller operations lag behind.

• Female participation in the Chilean mining sector grew from 6.16% in 2010 to 10.06% in 2021, with the number of women employed multiplying by 2.4 times during this period.
• There is a significant disparity in female participation based on the size of the mining operation; large mines drive the overall increase, while small mines show a considerable lag.
• Women are concentrated in administrative and professional roles but are severely underrepresented in the core value chain, specifically in maintenance and operations.
• Despite a high number of female graduates in relevant fields, only a small fraction enter the mining workforce; it is estimated that only 25% of women who graduated in technical or professional mining-related degrees between 2010 and 2020 were working in the industry by 2021.
• Substantial gender pay gaps exist across the sector, with the most extreme gap found in cleaning and restaurant services, where women earn 49.7% less than men.
• Women in mining face severe workplace culture issues, including sexual harassment and discrimination; one study found 45% of women experienced double-entendre jokes and 31% felt discriminated against in mining.
• Structural barriers to inclusion include a lack of gender-appropriate infrastructure, such as bathrooms, and a deficiency in childcare services and flexible scheduling to balance work and family life.
• There has been a positive trend in women occupying decision-making and leadership positions, with the percentage of female directors and managers increasing from 9.4% in 2017 to 16.9% in 2020.
• The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected female labor participation in Chile, as women bore the brunt of the care crisis due to school and childcare closures.

APA

Neculhual, C. R., Franco, D. P., & Hayes, C. R. (2022). MUJERES Y LA MINA DEL FUTURO. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-07/women-mine-of-the-future-chile-es.pdf

Chicago

Neculhual, Carla Rojas, Daniel Piquer Franco, and Carolina Rojas Hayes. MUJERES Y LA MINA DEL FUTURO. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-07/women-mine-of-the-future-chile-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Neculhual |first1=Carla Rojas |last2=Franco |first2=Daniel Piquer |last3=Hayes |first3=Carolina Rojas |title=MUJERES Y LA MINA DEL FUTURO |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-07/women-mine-of-the-future-chile-es.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{neculhual2022mujeres, author = {Neculhual, Carla Rojas and Franco, Daniel Piquer and Hayes, Carolina Rojas}, title = {{MUJERES Y LA MINA DEL FUTURO}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-07/women-mine-of-the-future-chile-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }