Abstract:

As the Queen’s Mining Department engages in a process of renewing the undergraduate curriculum to prepare new engineers for a rapidly evolving workplace, we wanted to better understand the workplace experiences of our graduates over the years since the first female graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering in 1978 and what this might suggest for our curriculum.

In the summer of 2021, with support from the Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MIHR)’s Gearing Up program and Queen’s Chair for Women in Engineering, our research group, comprising two assistant professors, two undergraduate researchers and a recent graduate, designed a mixed methods study to investigate enrollment patterns and the career trajectories of those who graduated with a degree in Mining Engineering between 1978 and 2020. We sought to explore the effects of gender on career path and industry retention and whether these effects, if any, have changed as more women enter the profession, and as industry strives to be more attractive to female employees.

After completing training in research ethics and the Government of Canada’s gender-based analysis training, ethics approval was obtained from the University’s General Research Ethics Board, and a survey was developed and distributed to Mining Department alumni. We asked about their experiences while in school and about positions held after graduation and their experiences in these positions.

De-identified data from over 200 competed surveys revealed that male and female graduates do not share the same workplace experience and that career trajectories are markedly different. Parenthood stood out as having a distinctly different impact on the career progression on men and women. In open-ended questions, female graduates were forthcoming with details about their experience.

Results from this phase of our study require two responses of us as educators. First, within the curriculum, we need to develop resilience in our graduates to help them withstand and thrive in workplaces which are yet to be equally inclusive of all persons. Second, because industry seeks to attract and retain the best talent, we need to equip graduates for transformational leadership, by supporting development of both a deep commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and to the change-management systems and leadership skills required to harness the power of a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Our survey remains open for future data collection and ongoing analysis. This work is the first step in an ongoing examination of intersectional experiences as our undergraduate enrollment becomes more diverse.

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Arik Collins