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Call us todayMining & Refining for Women
Mining and Refining for Women is one of the Skills Centre’s great success stories. Mining and Refining for Women has enhanced the retention, advancement and career development opportunities of women in positions ranging from front-line production and maintenance to professional roles in the mining and metallurgic industries.
Together with Teck Metals Ltd. and Bock and Associates, with funding provided by Status of Women Canada, this was a 30 month mentorship project to support women employed in non-traditional roles at Teck Metals in Trail.
The project involved two cohorts with a total of 34 women along with their mentors and a robust sponsorship team. In addition to working with mentors and participating in workshops, each participant completed an Affinity Project addressing an issue related to women and non-traditional employment.
The Affinity Projects addressed topics including:
- Maternity/paternity leave policy development
- Networking events across business areas
- Increased awareness of gender diversity within Teck’s Trail Operations
- Posting and succession planning processes
- Development of a Quick Guide (easy access information for employees)
- Bridging the gap in community perception and promotion of career opportunities for women
- Industrial lifting devices that mitigate physically demanding tasks
- Family friendly workplace practices, including research of childcare and family sick days
How it works
As a result of the mentorship relationships, the Affinity Projects and the conversations within the project’s sponsorship team, other project successes include:
- greater transparency in career advancement opportunities, including more job postings
- new kinds of conversations, including career mentorship and sponsorship, awareness of gender differences and the accommodation of family needs; and
- people at all levels taking on leadership to make a difference
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"This program has so many different facets. It really taught me new coping skills in areas I’d never thought of looking at."