As a woman geologist for the last 25 years, I am writing in response to the commentary “Gender diversity and ‘Women Who Rock’” (T.N.M., May 18–24, 2015). I know some of the women in the Women in Mining (WIM) group and probably this social group is the same.
I respect the ladies that run these types of social groups, but most of them are in consulting, sales, administration or investor relations, and this is not a job in mining.
I’d like to express my disappointment in my career. Because of the nature of the work, the women are the last ones to get hired and the first ones to get laid off. I even don’t want to mention that at the moment when they become mothers they are physically and emotionally unavailable for field work for more than 10 years. And it doesn’t matter how hard I try I do the same work, I sleep in the same camp but at the end of the day I always get paid less than my male coworkers.
If I had a daughter I wouldn’t advise her to choose geology or mining engineering. There are so many other jobs that can give her more stability and even better income than a job in mining.
A female geologist in Canada
Via Internet
Congratulations. Someone has finally the backbone to speak up. I support your thinking. If I had any children, I most certainly would not advise them to go into either geology or mining as a career. There are many other careers that provide much more stability than those affected by the up and down cycles of commodity prices.