Female mining managers get nine-year head start on men

New data from BDO Australia reveals a positive trend in Australia’s mining & metals sector with females being promoted to managers around 9 years earlier than men.

Charmaine Reay, Director of Remuneration & Reward, spoke to The Australian Financial Review about the new data and why the sector should be proud.

“Gender pay gap is an ongoing hot topic and we know that across the board men are often paid more than women. Our data reveals a positive trend emerging in the mining and metals sector, and this is something the sector should be proud of,” Charmaine said.

“Our data is showing that females in the mining and metals sector are promoted to manager and technical specialist roles at an earlier age than men, putting them in a better position to earn more over the duration of their careers,” she said.

“The new data shows that females are getting promoted to both manager and technical specialist roles at an earlier age than men, with the average female age being 41 compared to the average male age of 50. For manager roles, the average female age is 42 and the average male age is 51.”

“There will be situations where male managers are being paid more than female managers but our view is that the pay difference is usually based on experience and capability differences. Given the 8-9 year ago gap our data is showing, our view is that the 8-9 years more experience is one of the reason behind the pay difference.”

“While a female promoted to manager level at 42 may not earn exactly the same straight away, our view is that they will earn more over time as they are moving up to the top end of band at an earlier age than males,” Charmaine said.

Read the story in the AFR: Women get nine-year management head start in mining sector (afr.com)