Whether that is because it’s seen as difficult to hold down a Fifo roster while pregnant or with young children, or that many time-consuming and demanding project management roles are given to engineers at a time when many women are having kids and may not necessarily have the support at home, some male-dominated workplaces are, unsurprisingly, still designed around men.
Some of the structural barriers are simply due to the nature of the industry which has been designed around men, due to its history. Yassmin Abdel-Magied: life on an oil rig Photograph: yassmin_a/Instagram
Those biases are more difficult to challenge and reflect the broader societal attitudes that are yet to change. It may be the residual resentment in the young male engineers that a female engineer is more sought after by a company with a diversity policy. It may be the baby boomer is happy to teach but finds it difficult to accept direction from a younger female until she has proven her worth beyond all doubt. There is an acceptance in equality but not always a true belief in it. Taking the case of engineers, for example, it can be argued that female engineers are often highly visible as women, but invisible as engineers. Scratching beneath the surface allows the unconscious bias to become evident. However, as we see in other industries, those benefits don’t necessarily trickle up, and there are still some structural and societal barriers that make it difficult for women. The younger men (gen Y) have grown up in a world where they have been told men and women are generally equal, and accept that as the status quo. The older generations of men in the field (the baby boomers) are often happy to take on the role of “teacher” for a younger female, so a lot can be learnt. People know who you are, you will always be remembered (which is a double edged sword) and the lads, particularly the operators, enjoy talking to a woman, particularly after being around only blokes for weeks on end. Indeed, quite often there can be advantages to being a woman in a male-dominated industry.
“I was expecting it to be rough and the men to be mean, but they’ve all taken care of me and shown me around.” “I’ve had a great time!” she said, almost in surprise. Interestingly, it doesn’t play out like you would expect.Ī recent conversation with a young engineer who started in the mining industry brought this to the fore. There are generational differences in the ideologies and this also varies based on industry, location (in the field or in the office) and education level (management versus engineers versus operators). The traditional norm of men as the breadwinners and women as the homemakers in our society has definitely been challenged, but what does the alternative look like? Are women the homemakers and the breadwinners? Are men the homemakers? What does this say about our construction of masculinity and femininity? There are more questions than there are answers, and being in an industry with mostly men, it is fascinating to see the dynamics play out. The broader questions around roles of men and women in society also linger. Are women the homemakers and the breadwinners? Are men the homemakers? There is a general acceptance that gender diversity is a “good” thing, but some occasional reluctance about “forcing” a change, particularly when affirmative action is considered.
What is fascinating is how the experience of women in industry reflects the broader expectations of and attitude towards women in our society. In fact, like anything, working as a female in a male-dominated industry is all of the things – challenging, difficult, fun, rewarding, unexpected and above all, completely subjective. Truth be told, however, that is not the whole picture. I reckon I don’t even hear all the good stuff, although they do eventually get used to you.” “I’ll tell ya, some of the rest is unrepeatable in good company! Get a bunch of blokes together and anything goes. “He was like, ‘I’m a chauvinist, OK? I’m the last of a dying breed. “There was this one guy, right – he was just straight out about it,” I say. At this point, I might lean forward, and in whispered tones for effect, share what I call the “crazy rig conversations”.