Sustainable Development Issues in Shipping: Women, the Under-Represented Human Resource

Abstract

This paper questions why there are relatively low numbers of women in the shipping industry, at a time when there is still a critical shortage of seafarers in general. This should provide an ideal opportunity for more women to enter the industry. The reasons why this is apparently not the case, are examined. For the purpose of this paper, the main reference is to the shortage of officers in the deep-sea trades. Received wisdom is that the industry is still not suitable for women, with the stereotype of a seafarer being male, when other industries have moved on from this perception. This gender stereotyping, together with widespread discrimination in many sections of the seagoing industry, is a broad concern. Several aspects of the role of a seafarer are examined, amongst which will be the satisfaction of human needs as applied to women, the attitude of employers to women, and barriers that might be an impediment to choosing this career. Also suggested is the possibility that, because of insufficient information about the opportunities, women\textquoteright{}s perceptions might in themselves be creating an imaginary barrier. The final part of the paper makes some suggestions that might be implemented as a means of increasing women at sea and addressing the imbalance of genders on board ship.