Although seafaring is a fantastic career opportunity for both males and females, little effort has been made to provide practical steps and help increase the number of women seafarers. In response to the emerging need for women diversity in the industry, Maritime UK established a Women in Maritime Taskforce to address fairness, equality and inclusion within maritime earlier this year.
Women in Maritime Taskforce: An Overview
January 2018:
The Women in Maritime Taskforce established. The Taskforce brought together leaders from across the maritime sector aiming to increase the number of women in maritime, and crucially within senior roles across its shipping, ports, marine and business services industries. The BPA are members of the Taskforce, as are ABP, Shoreham Port, Port of Tyne and Port of Dover. DfT (Department for Transport) is also involved in the Taskforce, helping to promote the work being done and raise the profile.
February 2018
An Inaugural meeting conducted to discuss gender equality in the maritime sector. Many objectives were agreed at the first meeting, with stakeholders committing to investigate the various issues dominating the sector overall, but from the perspective of improving gender equality in maritime.
June 2018
A group of major British businesses and trade bodies signed the ‘Women in Maritime pledge’; a statement of intent to improve fairness, equality and inclusion in the sector. Specifically, the pledge was signed by major companies including Carnival UK, BP Shipping, the Port of London Authority, DP World, Associated British Ports and Peel Ports as well as trade bodies including British Marine, British Ports Association, UK Major Ports Group, Society of Maritime Industries, Maritime London, and the UK Chamber of Shipping. Other signatories include the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Nautilus International, Seafarers UK, Solent LEP and Mersey Maritime.
The triple scope of gender equality taskforce
- To provide recommendations for both industry and government
- To provide best practice from other work sectors
- To redress the balance in the number of women in senior roles
The taskforce’s work could create new opportunities for women at all levels of the maritime sector.
UK’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Nusrat Ghani
The 3Rs & 1P as “the gospel truth” of Women in Maritime Taskforce
- Recruitment – because women deserve a place in shipping and in senior positions just as much as men.
- Remuneration – because the gender pay gap is a pointer to inequalities taking place in maritime.
- Retention of staff members – because any organization that fosters gender diversity further supports retention of employees.
- Progression of career – because it is of high importance to ensure that women have the confidence and skills they need to move up the job ladder is part of creating gender equality in maritime
There are women of all ages and abilities wanting to be a part of our maritime future and we must make sure we don’t waste any more time in not addressing this issue. – Sue Terpilowski, Chair of the taskforce and President of WISTA UK
Why redressing the gender balance
Creating a “redressing “plan is an effective method to assess, maintain, and monitor the knowledge, skills, and attributes of people with respect to gender equality in a shipping organization. The framework helps measure current balance levels. Moreover, it could help managers make better decisions about recruitment, retention, and succession strategies.
