Professionals from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile gathered at SMI-ICE-Chile’s headquarters to build skills and learn about tools to support their professional advancement and help them take on leadership positions.
In Chile, female participation in mining has grown steadily in recent years, reaching almost 15%. However, only 6.8% of these women are in decision-making positions.
SMI-ICE-Chile—the International Centre of Excellence of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland based in our country since 2014—has the challenge of addressing this gap, which is common throughout Latin America. As a first step to promote changes in diversity and gender equity, it has implemented the «Leadership Program for Women in the Mining Industry.»
The initiative received support from The University of Queensland and the Australian Embassy in Chile, in addition to collaboration from the Council for Australia-Latin America Relations (COALAR).
Leading experts from The University of Queensland and SMI-ICE-Chile—such as leadership and organizational improvement specialist Susan Johnston, School of Business scholar Richard O’Quinn, and neuroscience expert Fiona Fraser—conducted this training, which covered topics such as: keys to leadership excellence, barriers to women’s leadership, empowering women at executive and managerial levels, effective communication and conflict resolution.
Doug Aitken, Executive Director of SMI-ICE-Chile, explains how the mining sector faces great opportunities and challenges: «Rapid transformation due to increased demand for critical minerals, complex operational contexts, societal expectations, environmental pressures, and also the challenge of new technologies.»
«To manage and take advantage of this dynamic, challenging landscape, leaders must be able to make innovative decisions, with effective and courageous leadership that promotes greater diversity and inclusion,» says Doug Aitken. «Placing more women in leadership positions is key to an industry with high standards. Despite progress, there are still many gaps for women, particularly at the senior executive and board levels. At SMI-ICE-Chile we are working to change this, and this program is a first step. We now want to expand it throughout Chile and the Americas, and we look forward to collaborating with our industry partners to create a long-term impact in all areas of the sector.»
Professional women in executive and operational roles from mining companies such as Vale (Brazil), Cerrejón (Colombia), Capstone Copper (Chile), RHI Magnesita (Brazil), Drum Major and SRR Mining (Argentina) and Minera Cerro Verde (Peru) took part in this training.
Fernanda Solis, Senior Metallurgy and Process Engineer at Capstone Copper, describes the four days of training: «It has been an incredible journey of learning to lead better and inspire my team.»
«It was a privilege,» she said, «to spend time with professionals from all over the region and well-prepared experts from The University of Queensland and SMI-ICE-Chile, using a very dynamic methodology that mixes theory with case studies. The analysis on how to deal with organizational changes and transformations, something we have to face frequently, was very valuable. They gave us tools to face them, bringing out the best in everyone; we also learned how to deal with conflicts within our team, becoming part of the solution, with very active listening and not just taking off.»
«This program,» she commented, «also encouraged us to work on our professional career development, thinking three to five years ahead about where I want to be, what I want to do and what strengths and personal challenges I need to work on.
Barbara Joncew Schmitz of RHI Magnesita says this training program left her much more empowered and inspired than she imagined: «I now strive to think about and structure my purpose, with a plan to achieve it and, very importantly, distrusting that inner voice that makes me question whether I am capable enough.
«I was extremely impressed with Susan Johnston’s session on managing unconscious biases and her tips for making high-impact presentations, where we role played and presented a mine improvement plan to the board of directors… It was quite a challenge! I also remember when Fiona Fraser explained the difference between a victim and a protagonist position. And her two memorable sentences when speaking about effective communication and the three levels of listening: ‘Don’t fill the silence’ and ‘the greatest gift you can give anyone is to listen.’
«In addition to giving us an extensive South American network, this experience has transformed us,» she said. «Each participant’s empowerment is very inspiring. I really hope, with the support of Women in Mining Brazil, to be able to bring this course to my country.»
Lía Polo, a mining engineer at Cerrejón, Colombia, was grateful for her employer’s decision to back her participation in this program: «They have given us tools to help lead the operation and the business,» she said, «and to motivate us to inspire others, not only other women, but also our male co-workers. In the end, I have learned many lessons, including one very important one: that negative responses should not frustrate you, but represent an opportunity to continue growing.»
«These days were like walking a path towards very genuine leadership,» added Milena Tuirán, another mining engineer at Cerrejón. «For me, the sessions on conflict resolution, assertive communication and committed leadership were very impactful,» she said. «There are so many lessons…especially the purpose that a good leader is always called to create and inspire in their teams.»
María del Rosario Barrios, Public Relations Supervisor at Minera Cerro Verde (Peru), said the course had exceeded all her expectations: «I learned a lot and now I’m going to design my own leadership plan, which will take in-depth personal analysis to discover how far I want and can go… and definitely, the sky is the limit.»
Alejandra Wood Huidobro, a Codelco director with an outstanding track record in the mining world and in senior executive positions, was also part of the second day of the course, sharing her leadership experience and encouraging participants to go further in their careers, despite the existing gaps and challenges. «The industry probably hasn’t changed that much, but don’t be afraid to have tough conversations,» she told them.
She conveyed her vision of what can make a difference in leadership positions: the importance of staying open to new opportunities, recognizing one’s vulnerabilities in the workplace and learning to manage time and energy and set limits. Her perspective on how to develop team creativity was an attention-grabbing point: «You have to question whether you need to put so many items on your agenda,» she said. «There’s no reason to excel at everything. Why try to be the best at something you don’t like? It is very hard to inspire others from a position of discomfort. And when teams are afraid, creativity dies.»
