At the proEXPLO 2023 seminar "Mining of the future: diversity makes us more competitive. Good practices and tools," Pía Olea, director of Genderlab, acknowledged that there is social pressure for companies to work towards the goal of gender diversity in the workplace. "For this reason, the corporate agenda places special emphasis on the presence of women in leadership positions," she said.

Based on scientific studies, she stated that companies that work diversity, equality and inclusion, generate benefits, such as attracting talent. "2/3 of people who are working consider that having a diverse workforce is an important factor in their evaluation of companies and job offers," she explained.

In addition, she argued that highly diverse companies are 180% better at adapting to change, and generate 1.4 times more revenue than less diverse companies. "A greater feeling of inclusion in employees generates a higher perception of performance (+17%), better decision making (+20%) and greater collaboration (+29%).

Similarly, she argued that companies with better diversity scores have an average innovation revenue 19% higher than companies with lower diversity scores. "Companies with a higher gender diversity index are 21% more likely to have higher profitability."

Women underrepresented in leadership positions

However, Pía Olea warned that women continue to be "severely" underrepresented in leadership positions, and that discrimination and sexual harassment remain widespread practices. "Disruptive technology skills ratio, i.e., cloud computing, data management and artificial intelligence, and engineering, have an underrepresentation of women," she explained.

In contrast, she compared that women are more represented in sales, marketing, people and culture and content production positions. "There is no problem with these jobs, but we should work to also find a space in jobs that involve these disruptive technology skills," she remarked.

Leaders must build staff loyalty with diversity and equality

On the other hand, the Genderlab director equated that 68% of leaders feel that they create empowering environments in which staff can be authentic, raise concerns and innovate without fear of failure; while 36% of staff feel that leaders create empowering environments. "There is a 30% difference between what leaders think they are doing, and what staff actually feel those leaders are doing."

"When leaders talk to their staff about diversity, equality and inclusion, staff feel that this is a pillar within their organization. If the leader does not talk about prevention of workplace harassment, LGTBIQ+ community, values associated with diversity, it is more difficult for the staff to align with this trend," she said.

proEXPLO 2023: Descubriendo la Minería del Futuro