The Montreal Gazette reports that there are still a stubbornly low number of women pursuing engineering as a course of study in university, and the question remains - why? The gender disparity has continued, they wrote, "despite the fact that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of new jobs in engineering and technology." Elizabeth Croft, a UBC mechanical engineering professor and, since 2010, regional chair for Women in Science and Engineering with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), agreed that engaging women in applied sciences is a serious concern. "I don't think we've done a particularly good job of communicating that the careers for engineers do not require you to be a man," she said in a recent interview.

Fourteen members of the Mozambican Mining Ministry are in Ouro Preto, Brazil, as a part of the cooperation agreement between the Ministry and the Gourceix Foundation to train Mozambican staff in mining resources, oil and gas, Club of Mozambique reports.

During the course, the 14 members of staff from all of Mozambique’s provinces, amongst other subjects, will learn techniques for identification and classification of gems as well as gem cutting and polishing.

Queensland, Australia's Minister for Women, Karen Struthers, is encouraging young women in the Upper Coomera area to try out "unconventional" careers, like mining, construction or manufacturing at Upper Coomera college, the Queensland Government website reports.

The program provides opportunities for young women to consider a career in non-traditional employment and undertake an apprenticeship or training to become plumbers, electricians or undertake tertiary study to work as engineers.

Engineering News reports: The need for height safety training in the African mining, telecommunications and energy industries is growing, and height safety consulting and training provider Height Wise Training Academy is expanding to meet demand.

“As industries continue to expand, so too will the demand for safety training. Height Wise has distinguished itself as a reputable provider of height safety solutions training, and I believe that the company is in a prime position to gain significant market share, and to establish new training academies across the continent,” says Height Wise director Penny Fabricius.

Fourty-seven American states and the Navajo Nation will receive funds totaling $8,441,000 from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for health and safety training, Aggregates Manager reports.

Grantees will use the funds to provide federally mandated training to miners. The grants cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal, and metal and nonmetal, mines, including miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone, sand and gravel mining operations.

Goldcoast.com reports: A new apprenticeship scheme, developed by the National Apprenticeships Program with support of the government and the mining industry, will be fast-tracking as many as 1000 people on the Gold Coast, Australia, into mining and energy jobs.

The scheme is targeting those who have relevant skills but no formal qualifications, including people who have partly completed an apprenticeship, permanent Australian residents with overseas qualifications, ex-members of the defence force and trades assistants from the construction and engineering industries.

Kivalliq News Online: The Kivalliq Mine Training Society, which provides Inuit in the Kivalliq with mining skills, knowledge and experience, will lose Canadian government funding in 2012, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made no mention of continuing it.

In the year and a half the society has been operating, more than 680 Inuit have been trained, 350 of which have gained meaningful employment in mine-related jobs. "A renewal of the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership Program or the development of a program of similar nature is an essential step in protecting that training," stated Geoffrey Qilak Kusugak, the mine training society's chair person.

Regional mining sites across South Australia will be able to partner with Registered Training Organisations to apply for funding to train Aboriginal job seekers, Government News reports.

Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Minister Grace Portolesi said the Commonwealth will provide $500000 to the program in 2011-12 in addition to the state government’s equivalent amount. “The State Government is working with the Commonwealth, Aboriginal communities and industry to halve the gap in employment outcomes in the community between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people by 2018,” Ms Portolesi said.

PR-USA.net reports: Convergence Training, a division of Capstone Technology Corporation, has expanded its computer-based training library of health and safety courses for general industry, construction, mining, pulp and paper, and a range of other industries.

Randy Kohltfarber, Convergence Training's General Manager, explains that the initiative to create more new courses than ever before is part of a long-term growth strategy. "We've made room in our very full production schedule to develop a range of safety training courses for two main reasons; first, to meet the demands of customers who are constantly complaining about the low quality training of other course producers and second, to expand the reach of our product line into new markets."