Celebrating International Women’s Day – Shiwley Paul

At Baffinland, we have some of the most experienced and inspirational women in the mining industry. For International Women’s Day, we asked some of them to share their experiences about what it’s like working in the industry, and their advice for young professionals and women interested in a job in the mining industry. We will continue to share their stories in the coming weeks.

Shiwley Paul, Inuit Government and Stakeholder Relations Specialist

Shiwley Paul is our Inuit, Government, and Stakeholder Relations Specialist. Before being involved in the resource industry, she was a Kineseologist, working as an exercise therapist with return to work services. While working with oil and gas companies, she developed an interest in safety systems, and made a move into health and safety. She worked with our Health and Safety department for three years, both at site and in Oakville, where she developed an interest in working with communities and supporting Inuit benefits on the project. Last year she switched to our Sustainable Development department.

She believes that women in the mining industry can tend to get assigned work based on gender stereotypes; filing, data entry, sorting paperwork, etc., and told that the work comes to you because women are more organized and more detail-oriented. She explains that in some environments it becomes difficult to voice concern because it is just seen a “complaining”.

Shiwley points to the importance of a strong mentor, ideally a woman, who has experience in the industry to overcome the challenges of being a woman in the mining industry. She also encourages women to speak up for themselves.