Women in Natural Resource Management: Finding a More Balanced Perspective

Australian natural resource management organizations are dominated by men in terms of overall employee numbers and leadership participation. This gendered imbalance has implications for social justice. Women's opportunities and choices are quite often limited to positions of relatively low status in the organization and have little influence on decision making. Consequently, women's voices and interests are less likely to be considered in these public forums. In addition, the structures and processes of natural resource management are not taking advantage of the alternative perspectives that may come from women's difference, nor are they maximizing the full potential skill of the "work-force." We present this article to alert people to the gendered bias that continues to exist in the natural resources sector. We conclude that there is a need to develop strategies that not so much remove masculinity, but include and value other "cultures."