Outgoing Nautical Institute (NI) President Carson-Jackson, commented on the women participation in shipping, noting that it still remains very low.
As Ms. Carson-Jackson said, when she started in maritime in 1983 about 2% of seafarers were female.
Here we are nearly forty years later in 2022 and still we are at 2%
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She then added that “the maritime industry is very good at putting in place KPIs to drive change for operational and safety matters, but we don’t have measures of success for diversity and inclusion. As I take on the role of immediate past president I would like to continue to work to move from 2% to 20%, and beyond.”
On the occasion of the first International Day for Women in Maritime, IMO-WISTA Women in Maritime jointly launched key findings of their survey, providing data of the current gender diversity across the sector and setting a benchmark for progress.
According to data from the newly- published 2021 IMO-WISTA Women in Maritime Survey Report, gender diversity in maritime is extremely fragmented by sector. The data demonstrates that women account for only 29% of the overall workforce in the general industry and 20% of the workforce of national maritime authorities in Member States.
Not surprised. It all starts with getting woman to enrol in the nautical colleges to get trained and qualified. When, during the cadetship, they are the only woman onboard in an international crew with cultural differences, it might be hard if colleagues keep challenging their skills or even presence onboard. Only after this experience they may decide to actually join the merchant navy, and increase percentages. Focus should be on positive experiences during the training phase!