economy

Natural Resources and Mining Overview Women in the Workforce

Natural Resources and Mining Snapshot | Printable Natural Resources and Mining Snapshot (PDF)

The natural resources and mining industry, sometimes called a “super sector,” comprises two distinct sectors — agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting and mining, which engages in growing crops, raising animals and harvesting timber and fish; and quarrying and oil and gas extraction, which extracts naturally occurring minerals and gases.

In 2016, natural resources and mining contributed $122.6 billion to Texas’ economy.  Women account for 22 percent of the state’s 290,000 jobs in this industry.

Average regional multipliers for natural resources and mining were used to estimate how an initial introduction of economic input in the industry, in the form of sales, jobs or earnings, affect the greater Texas economy. These multipliers capture “indirect” effects on industries that supply goods and services to the industry as well as “induced” effects on industries that sell local goods and services, such as housing, food or entertainment, to workers in the natural resources and mining industry and its suppliers (Exhibit 1).¹

Texas Women in Natural Resources and Mining

In 2017, women held nearly 65,000 jobs in natural resources and mining (Exhibit 2). Those jobs generate additional business activities that ultimately support about 73,000 jobs in all other industries of the Texas economy.²

Exhibit 2: Natural Resources and Mining, 2017

Description	NAICS Code*	2017 Total Jobs	2010 to 2017 Change	Avg. Annual Earnings Per Job**	2017 Women’s Jobs	Women's Share of Jobs	Location Quotient (Women)***
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	11	78,563	0.67	$37,208	21,269	27%	0.82
Crop Production	111	21,365	0.46	$34,998	5,620	26%	0.76
Animal Production and Aquaculture	112	25,160	1.16	$40,690	7,051	28%	0.94
Forestry and Logging	113	1,669	0.36	$57,046	247	15%	1.25
Fishing, Hunting and Trapping	114	568	0.83	$49,024	134	24%	1.32
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry	115	29,801	0.68	$34,516	8,217	28%	0.77
Mining, Quarrying and Oil and Gas Extraction	21	213,738	4.25	$154,048	44,183	21%	1.28
Oil and Gas Extraction	211	83,349	6.37	$227,437	24,717	30%	1.09
Mining (except Oil and Gas)	212	11,032	0.73	$88,294	1,614	15%	1.41
Support Activities for Mining	213	119,356	5.39	$108,877	17,852	15%	1.12
Natural Resources and Mining	11-21	292,301	-	$122,645	65,452	22%	-

*The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the federal system used to classify business establishments for statistical purposes.
**Based on total jobs in the industry including both genders. Earning include salaries, wages, benefits and other compensation.
***Location quotient (LQ) indicates the relative concentration of women in these jobs in Texas versus in the nation as a whole. The higher the LQ value, the more “concentrated” women’s employment is in Texas.

Sources: Emsi

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Subsectors

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector produces relatively little employment within this industry, accounting for nearly 27 percent of the total (292,301). Note, however, that the sector employs a large number of seasonal jobs from year to year, as aspects of the sector’s operations are heavily dependent on ideal weather conditions.

Of all Texas women working in natural resources and mining, 32 percent (21,269) work in agriculture, fishing and hunting. Women hold 27 percent of all jobs in this sector.  

Within agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, the support activities for agriculture and forestry subsector has the highest number of jobs held by women — 8,217. Women hold the highest share of total jobs (28 percent) in both support activities for agriculture and forestry and animal production and aquaculture, with 8,217 and 7,051 jobs, respectively.

Based on location quotient (LQ), a measure of employment concentration in a given area, the concentrations of forestry and logging and fishing, hunting and trapping jobs held by Texas women were higher than the national concentration in 2017, based on respective LQs of 1.25 and 1.32.

Mining, Quarrying and Oil and Gas Extraction

In 2017, women held 65,452 of Texas jobs in mining, quarrying and oil and gas, accounting for 22 percent of the total. Though the support activities for mining subsector has the sector’s highest number of total jobs, women held the highest number of jobs within oil and gas extraction subsector (24,717), which also had the highest share of jobs held by women (30 percent).

Based on an LQ of 4.25, jobs in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction are heavily concentrated in Texas compared to the nation. While jobs in mining other than oil and gas are not highly concentrated in Texas, jobs held by women in this subsector are, based on an LQ of 1.41.

Earnings Growth

From 2010 to 2016, average monthly earnings of women increased in both sectors of natural resources and mining. Women working in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector saw their earnings increase the most, by 23 percent during the period (Exhibit 3). Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction is the highest-paying sector in the state. Texas women working in the sector earned a monthly average of $8,997 in 2016, while women in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting had average monthly earnings of $2,600.

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Conclusion

Texas women working in natural resources and mining generate additional business activities that ultimately support about 73,000 jobs in other industries throughout the state economy. Though women do not account for high shares of employment in the natural resources and mining industry or its sectors, the concentration of jobs held by women in some of the industry’s various subsectors is higher in Texas than in the nation. 

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