Capital humano femenino en la minería chilena: Asociaciones público-privadas, responsabilidad social empresarial y género

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Chile's mixed mining exploitation model has delegated a significant portion of decisions regarding the labor market and human capital development in the mining industry to the transnational private mining sector. Along with the above, it has been observed that three decades after the repeal in 1993 of the law that prohibited women from working in mining, female participation in the sector remains low. While both the state mining company and some private mining companies have made progress in increasing female employment (including job insertion and retention), this progress appears driven by productivity and profitability factors in large copper mining companies, rather than as a direct or uniform result of gender-focused government policies. Based on this finding, this research examines the degree of influence of gender approaches and corporate social responsibility in the development of the public-private collaboration model for the formation of female human capital in Chilean mining. It argues that the intersection between the intergenerational mobility approach to human capital, social return on investment and gender mainstreaming in public policies could help close the gap between stakeholders. This would support a public-private partnership model for the development of human capital that aligns with the long-term objectives of sustainable and inclusive mining development in Chile.