Product manager Katie McTavish thinks that the world is waking up to gender equality and blatant sexism is less common, but unconscious bias is still dangerous to women’s careers.
How long have you been with the De Beers Group company Element Six, and what were you doing before you joined the company?
I’ve been at Element Six not quite a year. Before, I was a segment manager in an industrial lubricant additive company, looking after the railroad lubricant business. It was a very similar world in some ways – using advanced science to give our customers a competitive edge, and in an industry consumers just aren’t aware of.
Why did you choose Element Six and the world of diamonds?
It’s just amazing how incredible diamonds are. With properties like theirs – superior thermal conductivity while being a great electrical insulator, super hard, optically transparent, chemically inert – they have some varied and interesting uses. The opportunities that exist because of this material and how it can be used to make the world a more exciting place really interested me.
What exactly does your current role involve?
It’s pretty varied. Overall, the aim is to work towards converting customers in the mining and road planing industries to using parts made from diamond instead of more traditional materials. There’s a lot of project meetings and calls with customers and R&D partners around the world. I’m currently working on a five-year plan for the road mining and wear parts business – where the business is going to be in five years, how we will get there, and with which partners and customers. There’s lots of presenting, talking to colleagues all over the world, and project management.
What do you like most about your work?
The blend of science and engineering with commercial considerations is great but, in particular, I really enjoy the more strategic parts – for example, thinking about what is happening in the mining industry and what this might mean for our customers in 5-10 years, and what we will need to do to be ready to support them.
I also love that there is the occasional time when I can present something in a more interesting way other than with the typical PowerPoint slides. At a meeting in January with all the Element Six sales and marketing leaders, I invited them all to take their shoes off and lie down on yoga mats in the dark before we took them on an imagination journey to help them understand a predicament we were facing. Even those who weren’t involved in the road, mining and wear parts business enjoyed the fresher approach.
What are the main challenges you face as a woman in the industry?
I think the world is waking up to gender equality now, and blatant sexism is much less common than even 10 years ago. However, it’s the unconscious biases that people have that are dangerous to women’s careers and job successes, in particular not giving the same opportunities to women as to men, or inadvertently sheltering us from the difficult situations or frank discussions where we might shine. Unfortunately, I have experienced that when a woman needs to be assertive or strong in the workplace, it can be perceived as aggressive or bossy.
What advice would you give a woman considering joining the mining industry?
Exactly the same as to a man: be yourself. Don’t try to conform to someone else’s idea of what a perfect employee is – you’ll perform best if you behave naturally. I’d add to a woman, that women don’t have to act like men to do well. We can gain trust and credibility when we are genuine and have the confidence to be ourselves.
How do you like to spend your spare time?
I love mountain biking. My husband and I explore all over the UK with our bikes and enjoy the intimacy with nature and the solitude we find in the big open moorlands and mountainsides and, of course, the adrenaline on the downhills. I’m out several times a week when I’m at home, but usually alone or with men as there aren’t many women riding near me. The regulars in my group are used to me now but the new guys will do almost anything to avoid being beaten by a girl.