A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale Mining Sector: South Africa

The report provides a gendered analysis of the South African large-scale mining (LSM) sector, identifying a slow increase in female representation from 10% in 2015 to over 17% by 2020. While women are increasingly outperforming men in STEM and tertiary education, they remain under-represented in core mining operations and decision-making roles. The analysis highlights significant barriers, including a gender pay gap estimated between 23% and 35%, lack of gender-specific PPE, and persistent issues with gender-based violence and harassment. It recommends the development of a national gender strategy for mining, improved sex-disaggregated data collection, and targeted STEM career development to ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

• Female representation in the South African mining sector saw a modest increase from 10% in 2015 to more than 17% in 2020.
• Women are enrolling and graduating from tertiary education, including STEM-based streams, at higher rates than men in South Africa.
• Despite educational gains, women are severely under-represented in core mining operations and high-level management; only 19% of employees in top and senior management are women.
• There is a significant gender pay gap in South Africa, with a median range between 23% and 35%, though some sector-specific data suggests a higher ratio of 2.06 to 1.
• Women in the LSM sector face systemic workplace barriers, including a lack of gender-specific personal protective equipment (PPE), inadequate sanitation, and the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual harassment.
• The transition to a low-carbon economy and the decommissioning of coal plants in Mpumalanga and east of Johannesburg pose significant risks of job losses that may disproportionately affect vulnerable workers.
• There is a critical deficiency in the availability and standardization of sex-disaggregated data across public and private mining entities, which hinders the measurement of transformation goals.
• Many women in the sector report a lack of awareness or implementation of gender-specific policies, with 53.8% of survey respondents indicating no such policy exists in their workplace.

APA

Peltier-Huntley, J., Cooper, T., Goliath, M., & Perkins, D. (2022). A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale Mining Sector: South Africa. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-south-africa.pdf

Chicago

Peltier-Huntley, Jocelyn, Tracey Cooper, Michelle Goliath, and Dave Perkins. A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale Mining Sector: South Africa. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2022. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-south-africa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Peltier-Huntley |first1=Jocelyn |last2=Cooper |first2=Tracey |last3=Goliath |first3=Michelle |last4=Perkins |first4=Dave |title=A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale Mining Sector: South Africa |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=August 2022 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-south-africa.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peltierhuntley2022gendered, author = {Peltier-Huntley, Jocelyn and Cooper, Tracey and Goliath, Michelle and Perkins, Dave}, title = {{A Gendered Analysis of Employment and Skills in the Large-Scale Mining Sector: South Africa}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-04/women-mine-of-the-future-south-africa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }