International Women's Day Thought Piece: Scarlett Black

As a woman in maritime I am often asked my opinion about how to encourage more women to enter an industry that is heavily dominated by men. Work is underway to try and get more women into the sector and Maritime UK remains absolutely resolute in supporting a more diverse and inclusive workforce, but we all know much more work needs to be done. 

For a sector worth over £116 billion in the UK alone, statistics still show that there is a significant imbalance across maritime.  Only 17% of all port workers are women, according to the ‘BPA Gender Diversity in Ports 2021 Survey’ and the BIMCO/ICS 2021 Seafarer Workforce Report states women represent only 1.2% percent of the global seafarer workforce. 

If I was asked why, I would say that culture in this historic and traditional industry could do with an update focussing on a new dynamic workforce directly linked with the direction of a rapidly modernising, decarbonising, and digitising maritime sector. It is simply not true that to have a successful career in maritime a person has to go to sea for twenty years. Today’s workforce is more dynamic, moves faster and are no longer looking for a career for life and maritime should reflect, support and embrace this.  

I know of many people across the sector who will respond with a so what,  yet the stark reality   is that having a more diverse workforce just makes good  business sense. A Mckinsey & Company study analysed over 1,000 companies worldwide and found that companies with low rates of gender and racial diversity are 29% more likely to make less money. The world is evolving  and it is vital  that as a sector supporting over 1 million jobs in the UK, maritime evolves with it.

This being said, I strongly believe that it is not only the men who are responsible . There is a whole generation of women within the industry who believe in a ‘pull the ladder up’ approach. The fact that they have been accepted in this male dominated industry means they are one of ‘the boys’ and therefore pull the ladder up behind them to protect their position. This in my opinion is doing far more damage in attracting and retaining female talent than the ultra traditional male who seems to get the majority of the blame. Perhaps, the maritime sector has a significant ageism problem rather than just a sexism problem? If, like me, you are in your twenties and a woman, you are simply treated as the most junior person in the room, and we wonder why maritime is having  so many challenges attracting top talent.

So back to my original question, how do we attract and retain more women in maritime? If we want to see a truly supportive industry that attracts and retains the very best of the next generation, both male and female, I’d suggest that many in the industry should take some time to self-reflect and consider their own attitudes before accusing others. We may then see some real progress towards a modern inclusive maritime sector.