According to the International Exhibition of Iranian Stone, women make up half of the world's population, and in today's world, their role can not be confined to the framework of home affairs. Societal attitudes toward the presence of women in societies independent of patriarchal culture have changed over the centuries through relentless struggle and even heavy compensation by women, but the existence of sometimes overwhelming obstacles and opposition to their work and employment remains undeniable; The more masculine the activity, the more uneven the path.

But no one has yet been able to explain the scale by which gender labels are applied to jobs in all cultures of the seven continents. Working in the mine, which is one of the hardest jobs in the world, is one of the men's jobs in which the presence of women has caused surprise and has always been taken by men and even some women, and has been followed by opposition and protests.

Mineral problems are not male or female

Roghayeh Kargar, a mining activist, did not consider the barriers to mining to be gender-based and said: "The problems that exist in the way of mining activities cannot be considered feminine or masculine." These barriers affect all mining activists and make mining difficult for both male and female activists.

 These problems include decisions made by government agencies. He added: "A recent circular has been issued by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, according to which, if the mines are not active, the mining licenses of these mines will be revoked and their owners will be revoked, while we spend Corona days and months with The spread of the virus has delayed most mining activities, and some mines have even been forced to close for a short time. In the current situation, the issuance of this directive added a burden to mining activists.

"Another problem that can be mentioned is the 400 percent increase in the property rights paid by the mines to the government. Last year, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus as well as the problems," Kargar said, adding that "increasing government salaries" is another important issue for mines today. The current economic situation in the country, mines, like other economic sectors, have been subject to fluctuations and even unique recessions, and the efficiency of the mining sector has not increased to this extent, so this salary increase does not seem logical and positive consequences for experts and activists in this sector. . This year, government officials are expected to follow the slogan of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution and make their decisions with a deterrent approach.

Women's interaction with male miners

Roghayeh Kargar further mentioned the cooperation of the locals with female miners and considered it as one of the positive points in the current situation. "Some miners are arguing over conflicts between miners and residents of mining and local areas," he said. Fortunately, I can say that the women activists in the field of mining have established a good emotional relationship with the villagers and the people of the area, and while they are friends, there is mutual respect between them, and there is no problem in this regard. I have had this experience. As for the resistance of some workers or contractors and miners to a female mining activist, it can be said that this is somewhat true and in some cases can lead to conflicts. In these cases, we try to prevent this from happening by appointing a male manager, or in some cases, I enter the field of practical work (such as working with a loader) and with this action, my adequacy and ability for others is determined and tensions are removed.

Low employment quota for women

Shahnaz Navai, Executive Secretary of the Non-Oil Drilling Committee of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, pointed to the problems of women's employment day, especially in the mining sector, and said: "Since I started working in the mining sector, I have not seen any obstacles due to being a woman. I did my best to do everything for men, but the issue that is always raised is the issue of women being employed in mining companies, especially private companies. Usually, not only in the mining sector, but in most centers and companies, women are employed much less than men. And this is a limitation for women's employment.

He continued: "Unfortunately, today, not only in Iran but also in other countries, this practice exists and in all sectors, capable and educated women with less qualifications are used and their quota for presence in various jobs, especially in the mining sector, is much higher than men." Lower.

Traditional beliefs prevent the presence of women

The mining activist went on to address some of the reasons for the low employment of women in the mines. He said: "Women 's limited physical ability compared to men is one of the reasons for less use of women in mines, but in terms of technical and executive ability, women have proven to be no less than male miners, and sometimes even ahead and ahead. They were one of them.

Another problem in the discussion of women's employment in mines is the prevailing attitude and thinking in societies that sometimes women are not considered equal to capable men, so contractors or mine owners do not use women in mining management and administration, and in the end It is observed that the employment of female labor in mining activities is very low and mine owners prefer to use more male labor.

Navai went on to say that one of the prevailing traditional beliefs is the masculinity of mining jobs. "Some people believe that mines have a masculine atmosphere and women have nothing to do with the nature of these activities," he said. It can be said that these attitudes do not exist only in the mining sector and these views can be seen in other professions as well.

He added: "Despite what has been said, experience shows that women know more about the value and position of work and have more accurate and serious follow-ups." In this regard, in my opinion, the common thinking in society should be changed and the presence of women in jobs should be welcomed and exploited in a more desirable and appropriate way.

Concluding remarks

The presence of successful women in the mines suggests that even if mining is a male activity, women can still be considered leaders and key figures in these occupations; Therefore, experts and activists in the mining sector, especially women working in this field, believe that changing society's attitude towards women's employment in all economic issues is necessary today, because progress and development can only be achieved with the cooperation and interaction of experts.