Industry 4.0 in Developing Countries: The Mine of the Future and the Role of Women
Industry 4.0 technologies are seen to offer an opportunity to break gender-bias in employment, primarily by reducing previous technical barriers to female entry into the workforce. This study unpacks whether increased technological intensity of processes impacts female employment share, specifically analyzing the incorporation of digital technologies in an historically male dominated industry. Specifically, it delves into whether employment patterns in the large-scale mining sector in Chile – a leading mining country - have changed with the adoption of new digital technologies. These technologies have removed major barriers for women in the sector – mining employment is no longer driven by physical strength and endurance conducted in remote locations. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly common for these operations to be carried out from a distance; mining, to some extent is becoming a downtown, knowledge-intensive office job. How has this translated to female employment? The findings of this exploratory research indicate that high tech is changing the gender equation, but progress is slow. A higher share of women is concentrated in those activities which have adopted new technologies, but female participation is still very low. Importantly, the new technologies have removed technical barriers to female inclusion, but other nontechnical ones have gained importance. The Chilean experience offers key lessons for policymakers in resource rich countries seeking to use technology to overcome the gender gap in these sectors.
