Page 30 - EngineerIT April May Issue 2026

WOMEN IN STEM

“Taking up space”: a woman’s

place in mining, on her own terms

By Justin Render, with Julie Courtnage, Executive Director of the Mandela Mining Precinct

ulie Courtnage, Executive Director of the That tension between lived experience on site and
Mandela Mining Precinct, entered the mining perception within the system shaped much of Julie’s early
Jindustry at a time when women were not career. And while being accepted by teams on the ground
really expected to be there. She studied geology, did not automatically translate into being taken seriously in
geography and zoology in the late 1980s, launching professional or technical discussions, Julie persevered.
her career in an environment that operated very
differently from today. “Certainly, in my early career, if I look back now, I tried to
conform. I always wore the suits and toed the line. Now, at
When she first went underground as a student, it my age (56), it seems amusing, and I’m somewhat sad for
was still illegal for women to work shifts. Despite the younger Julie, but I know now that I can walk in stilettos and
circumstances, she describes those years as formative be good at what I do. There is no contradiction.
and generally positive.
A fresh perspective on work
“When I first worked underground and in the pit, it was As her experience deepened, Julie began to look
phenomenal. I always found the miners to be just great beyond the technical aspects of environmental science
guys. I felt like one of them, and we worked very well and towards the broader forces shaping outcomes in
together. They even taught me a unique language. the industry.
The earliest issues I butted up against were with certain
more senior men, who seemed to feel that, because “Quite early in my career, I started looking at our industry
I was a woman, I had no idea how to use my brain.” from a more human point of view. I studied psychology
while I was working, became a professional coach and
adult learning facilitator, and started focusing very deeply
on the values-based leadership space”, says Julie.

Julie’s work expanded beyond traditional mining pathways,
encompassing decision-making and the systemic ways
people engage with complex working models. Technical
knowledge remained essential, but it became just one
component of a much broader approach to the root causes
Julie Courtnage of “wicked problems”.

30 | EngineerIT April/May 2026