“The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity, but there is still much action needed to drive gender parity – especially in the maritime industry. According to the UN, Women make up 29% of the maritime workforce across different subsectors, though still just 2% of seafarers are female. Bringing more women into the maritime workforce is enshrined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals but a lack of gender equity in the industry can be identified as a key barrier. There is also a sizeable pay disparity in shipping, with Spinnaker‘s data showing the salary gap between men and women is approximately 40%.
“The good news is that there are actionable steps that companies can take to bridge the gap and give female employees the recognition they deserve on the road to a more equitable industry. Much of it comes down to the recruitment process. Using neutral, non-gender biased language in job descriptions, having a diverse interview panel that decide on eventual hires and improving salary transparency in job adverts by advertising salary bands can help. The latter is especially important to achieve pay equity, as women are generally paid less, so the practice of asking about current salary perpetuates the pay gap as they naturally have a lower start point for negotiation. This is especially true for returners to the job market who may have had an elongated career break while raising a family, meaning salary history is not an accurate indicator of current market worth.
“Finally, it’s also important to make shipping an attractive industry for women throughout their career stages, offering flexibility and continuous professional development, for example. Building a strong female talent pipeline at all levels helps to keep women in the sector as well as highlights the opportunities for career growth. Women will be able to see the career trajectories of others before them and see that they too can go from junior positions to become leading figures within the industry.”
*Teresa has worked in recruitment for over 30 years and is a member of the Maritime UK’s Diversity Taskforce, board member of Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association, and part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Women and Work.
