Times Higher Education Awards
We were delighted that the GEM Project was shortlisted for the 2017 Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences award at the Times Higher Education Awards.
We would like to thank all those who participated in the research and contributed their valuable time. We would also like to thank our project funders, the ITF Seafarers Trust.
GEM Project update
The GEM Project was successfully completed in 2016. The industry reports and other publications can be found under GEM publications. The project still generates much interest and commands a high profile within the industry. We will continue to provide updates here with information about GEM dissemination and other related news.
Webinar on 'Equal Shipping' from Lloyd's Maritime Academy
This webinar, presented by Lloyd’s Maritime Academy, assessed the current position of women in maritime at a turning point for the industry. The webinar looked at the importance of representation, reducing barriers, and speaking out against workplace inequality, and what the future looks like for the shipping industry.
Catch up on demand with Kate and the rest of the panel by clicking on the link below.
GEM publications
Read the GEM project full report
Read the GEM project report summary
Chinese Women Seafarers: A Case Study of the Women Cadets in Shanghai
Research background
The Gender, Empowerment and Multicultural Crews (GEM) project explored seafarers’ welfare, focussing on gender issues arising from multi-cultural crews and isolation. The research and data findings will facilitate the development of appropriate tools to help support women within the industry.
This research into seafarer’s welfare and on-board experiences has drawn on the unique access to data from current and former students at the University’s Warsash Maritime Academy, as well as comparable data from China’s Shanghai Maritime University and Nigeria’s National Maritime Academy. This has helped to establish patterns relating to the welfare of seafarers, particularly women, and how they are treated on board in today’s multicultural working environment.
This project has been able to highlight the good practice that will encourage women’s participation in seafaring. The research recommendations also reveal a range of measures that may lead to further engagement of women with the industry, both from a macro and micro level. The recommendations also highlight potential solutions to help support seafarers and enable them to feel safe on board regardless of their gender, nationality or rank.
The GEM Project strives to improve the welfare and working conditions on board for all crew, by empowering and supporting women who may be experiencing discrimination and harassment. It has identified gaps in current knowledge, raised awareness of the wider issues surrounding multicultural crews, so that women seafarers can be supported in addressing them and play a fuller role on board ships and beyond.
Industry voices
"Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurs productivity and growth, and benefits every stakeholder in the global maritime community."
Koji Sekimizu, Secretary-General International Maritime Organisation. London February, 2013
"There are a plethora of factors that influence the wellbeing of seafarers. With only a tiny percentage of the seagoing workforce made up of women, identifying and properly exploring these factors is urgently needed – both so that women are encouraged to become seafarers, and so that female seafarers feel safe, valued and respected while at sea. The Seafarers’ Trust is therefore delighted to sponsor this timely research.”
Kimberly Karlshoej, ITF Seafarers’ Trust
“This project aims to improve the welfare and working conditions on board for all crew by empowering and supporting women who may be experiencing discrimination and harassment. It will identify gaps in current knowledge and raise awareness of the wider issues surrounding multicultural crews so that women can play a fuller role on board ships and beyond.”
Dr Kate Pike, Senior Research Fellow at Solent University, and research lead
Press releases
For a full list of places where the project has been disseminated, please refer to the project dissemination page.
Example press releases include:
Southampton Solent University, 2017. 'Rocking the boat'. In: Official Southampton Solent University [online]. 7 February. Available here.
Nautilus International, 2016. 'A GEM of an idea to attract more women seafarers'. In: Nautilus International [online] 18 July.
Spinnaker Global, 2016. ‘China’s new policies could help female seafarers’. In: Changing Course [online]. 21 January 2016.
Southampton Solent University, 2015. 'Joint launch of China Centre and maritime research project'. In: Official Southampton Solent University [online]. 28 September 2015.
Ross, A., 2015. 'University to look at why so few women work at sea' [online]. Southern Daily Echo, 23 June. Available here.
Publications
KITADA, M., 2013. Code of behaviour at sea: women seafarers’ shipboard identity management. WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 12(2), 213-227.
KITADA, M., E. WILLIAMS and L.L. FROHOLDT, 2015. Maritime women: global leadership. Berlin: Springer.
MACNEIL, A. and S. GHOSH, 2017. Gender imbalance in the maritime industry: impediments, initiatives and recommendations. Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs, 9(1), 42-55.
Pike, K., E. Broadhurst, M. Zhao, P. Zhang, A, Kuje, N. Oluoha, 2016b. The Gender Empowerment and Multi-Cultural Crew (GEM) Project Report for the ITF Seafarers’ Trust. November 2016.
Pike, K., E. Broadhurst, M. Zhao, P. Zhang, A, Kuje, N. Oluoha, 2016a. The Gender Empowerment and Multi-cultural Crew (GEM) Project Summary, 2015-16 For the ITF Seafarers’ Trust.
RUGGUNAN, S. and H. KANENGONI, 2017. Pursuing a career at sea: an empirical profile of South African cadets and implications for career awareness. Maritime Policy & Management, 44(3), 289-303.
SAMPSON, H. et al., 2003. Women seafarers: global employment policies and practices. Geneva: International Labour Office.
STANLEY, J., 2016. From cabin 'boys' to captains: 250 years of women at sea. Stroud: The History Press
THOMAS, M., 2004. ‘Get yourself a proper job girlie!’: recruitment, retention and women seafarers* 1. Maritime Policy & Management, 31(4), 309-318.
WU, C. et al., 2017. Career development for women in maritime industry: organisation and socialisation perspectives. Maritime Policy & Management, 44(7), 882-898.
Zhao, M., L. Zhao, P. Zhang, J. Wu, K. Pike, E. Broadhurst. 2017. Chinese women seafarers: A case study of the women cadets in Shanghai. Marine Policy, 83, 40-47.
Sponsorship and supporters
The project was supported by the Seafarers' Trust and the Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University.
The Gender, Empowerment and Multicultural Crews (GEM) project was established to examine seafarers' welfare, focussing on gender issues arising from multi-cultural crews and isolation.
The GEM team would like to thank all those who participated in the research and contributed their valuable time in helping us to gain a unique insight into seafaring gender issues in the UK, China and Nigeria. This work would not have been possible without you.
Past work
UK
Kate Pike and Emma Broadhurst completed the cadet surveys for the UK. In January 2016, cadets returning from their first sea phase were re-surveyed following three months at sea. The data from these surveys was closely compared with the survey results from the same cadets before they had been to sea. To help increase the value of this data, we also ran a small, informal focus group, with four of the female cadets from this group. The informal discussion about their first experiences at sea and the issues they had come across provided immensely valuable information and we would like to thank all those who took part in this and the surveys. In total, 23 cadets completed the before and after sea time survey and an additional 19 cadets completed just the after survey.
The responses received from the stakeholder interviews have also been fascinating and provided a valuable and unique insight into the issues associated with gender arising from a multi-cultural crew environment. As with China and Nigeria, the UK team gathered interview data from the various perspectives of policy, training, recruitment, management and seafaring. Each interview was transcribed verbatim from the recordings and thematically analysed to produce a rich data set.
China
The Chinese data collection began in November 2015 when the team visited Shanghai and carried out many interviews. This part of the data collection was overseen by Dr Minghua Zhao and Captain Pengfei Zhang, and a great deal of effort was made to organise the interviews and ensure the best quality data was collected. When the core team left China, the good work continued with the on-site team in Shanghai, Lijuan and Jianjun, who completed both the cadet surveys and stakeholder interviews. Over 100 before sea time cadet surveys were carried out at Shanghai Maritime University. Data analysis was carried out.
Our data collection visit to China was featured in a number of publications, which can be viewed in the press release section of our website.
Nigeria
The local Nigerian team consisted of Amos Kuje and Nancy Oluoha from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency. Nancy and Amos conducted key stakeholder interviews at the Nigerian Maritime University and in other locations around the country. Over 115 cadet before sea time surveys were conducted at the Nigerian Maritime University. Seventeen interviews were also conducted, providing rich data for the report.
The Gender Empowerment and Multicultural Crews Conference
The GEM Conference was held on 16 June 2016 at the ITF Seafarers' Trust offices in London. The conference brought together many different sectors of the shipping industry to hear about the GEM Project research findings and to participate and discuss the results in themed panel discussions throughout the day. The event provided a forum for stimulating debate and viewpoints to be aired, as well as the opportunity to bring people together for a thought-provoking exchange of ideas on how to attract more women into the industry, and retain those that already work there, within a safe and comfortable working environment.
China visit
The project team were in Shanghai for a week, where we were undertaking data collection from various stakeholders within the Chinese maritime sector, with the help of our local team. The research was primarily based at the Merchant Marine College at Shanghai Maritime University (SMU), where the team met with a number of cadets and staff, many of whom are ex-seafarers themselves.
As part of our visit to the Merchant Marine College, we were invited to give a series of presentations to the cadets, including a presentation introducing the GEM Project to the students in the SMU’s Law School.
We also visited Pudong, in the ‘new part’ of Shanghai, where we met and spoke to various companies, government agencies and other relevant maritime stakeholders. We were impressed by the number of interested parties we met in China, and their warm support which helped to make the visit extremely productive and enjoyable.
The visit was led by Dr Minghua Zhao and Captain Pengfei Zhang – GEM Project team leads in China. Many thanks to our local team in Shanghai:
- Local GEM Project team in China – Lijuan Zhao PhD candidate, East China University of Political Science and Law and Jianjun Wu, Shanghai Maritime University.
- Professor Chao, Vice Dean, School of Law Shanghai Maritime University.
Project launch
The GEM project was officially launched at the International Maritime Organisation on Tuesday 22 September 2015, alongside Solent University’s China Centre (Maritime).
The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Baldwin, welcomed representatives from the maritime industry, including representatives from ISWAN, Nautilus, and the Merchant Navy Welfare Board, and others.
Professor Mike Barnett chaired the event and other speakers for the evening included Kimberly Karlshoej, head of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, GEM project manager, Dr Kate Pike, and Professor Minghua Zhao.
Kimberly Karlshoej spoke about the timely need for the research being undertaken by the GEM project:
“We are missing out on a lot of skilled, resilient and competent women that would add immense value to our industry. The term seafarer is gender blind and so are the seas, this is why this research is so important.”
“This research will help us to understand the context from a sea farer’s, men or women’s, point of view and will help identify the barriers and the frustrations that they face. I think it is safe to say that in the future it will be essential to strive towards a maritime industry that is inclusive and that views its lifeblood, its sea farers, as more than a sum of its parts.”
Speaking about the GEM research, project manager and senior research fellow Kate Pike said the project:
“aims to improve the welfare and working conditions on-board for all crew by empowering and supporting women who may be experiencing discrimination and harassment. It will identify gaps in current knowledge – with regard to training and retention – and raise awareness of the wider issues surrounding multicultural crews so that women can play a fuller role on board ships and beyond.”
Academic publications
| Date | Author/participants | Host/publisher | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2017 | Minghua Zhao, Lijuan Zhao, Pengfei Zhang, Jianjun Wu, Kate Pike and Emma Broadhurst. | Marine Policy Journal | Publication | Chinese Women Seafarers: A case study of the women cadets in Shanghai |
| March 2017 | Dr Kate Pike, Emma Broadhurst, Dr Minghua Zhao, Dr Pengfei Zhang, Amos Kuje and Nancy Oluoha. | Report for the ITF Seafarers' Trust | Publication | The Gender Empowerment and Multi-cultural Crew (GEM) Project Report, 2015-2016 For the ITF Seafarer’s Trust |
| March 2017 | Dr Kate Pike, Emma Broadhurst, Dr Minghua Zhao, Dr Pengfei Zhang, Amos Kuje and Nancy Oluoha. | Report for the ITF Seafarers' Trust | Publication | The Gender Empowerment and Multi-cultural Crew (GEM) Project Summary, 2015-2016 For the ITF Seafarer’s Trust |
Conferences
| Date | Author/participants | Host/publisher | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-25 May 2017 | Dr Kate Pike presented a paper based on the GEM Project | University of Milano Biocca, Italy | Conference exploring the human element of the oceans: the gender implications of the law of the sea | |
| 16 November 2016 | Dr Kate Pike presented a paper based on the GEM Project | Manila, Philippines | PowerPoint presentation and workshop | Crew Connect conference |
| 15-16 September 2016 | Professor Minghua Zhao presented a paper on the GEM Project | University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, London | PowerPoint presentation | |
| 16 June 2016 | GEM team and international maritime stakeholders | ITF Seafarers' Trust | PowerPoint presentations and workshops | The Gender Empowerment and Multicultural Crews Conference |
| 20 May 2016 | Dr Kate Pike presented a paper based on the GEM Project | Southampton Solent University | PowerPoint presentation | Research and Innovation Conference 2016 practice-related research |
| 22 September 2015 | GEM Project team | PowerPoint presentation | The joint launch of the Gender, Empowerment and Multicultural Crews (GEM) Project and the establishment of the China Centre Maritime (CCM) |
Social media
| Date | Author/participants | Host/publisher | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 February 2017 | Southampton Solent University | Facebook post | ||
| 3 January 2017 | Maritime Films UK | Online blog | Looking for GEMS | |
| 12 July 2016 | Nautilus International | Tweet | Gender, Empowerment and Multicultural Crews Project (GEM) project | |
| 26 June 2016 | Southampton Solent University | Tweet | Find out more about our Gender, Empowerment and Multicultural Crews Project (GEM) Conference last week | |
| 22 June 2016 | Southampton Solent University | Southampton Solent University / Facebook | Facebook post | |
| 17 June 2016 | Winnie Sorresen | Wenford People | Online blog | GEM Project Conference - June 16th 2016 |
| March 2016 | Minghua Zhao and Lijuan Zhao, both members of the GEM China Team | Women Seafarers Group | Social media discussion group network via WeChat | Women Seafarers Group |
| 21 January 2016 | Spinnaker Global | Online blog | China's new policies could help female seafarers | |
| 14 January 2016 | Dr Jo Stanley | Gender, sex, race, class - and the sea | Online blog | Chinese women's seafaring: a history |
News
| Date | Author/participants | Host/publisher | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2017 | Richard Percival | Southampton Daily Echo | Online news article | Southampton Solent University’s research and entrepreneurship recognised in the ‘Oscars of higher education’ |
| 7 September 2017 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | Solent's research and entrepreneurship recognised in the 'Oscars of higher education' | |
| 24 March 2017 | Nautilus International | Online news article | Shipping encouraged to mind the gender pay gap | |
| 9 March 2017 | helmsman | The Seafarer Times | Online news | Celebrating women in shipping |
| 8 March 2017 | Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association | Online news | Celebrating women in shipping | |
| 14 February 2017 | Webmaster | OnBoard | Online news | Girls on Deck: Female Exterior & Engineering Crew |
| 7 February 2017 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | Rocking the boat | |
| 18 July 2016 | Nautilus International | Online news | A GEM of an idea to attract more women seafarers | |
| 1 July 2016 | World Travel Information | Online news | Girls on Deck: Connecting Exterior and Engineering Superyacht Crew | |
| 28 June 2016 | The Islander | Online news article | Girls on Deck: connecting female exterior and engineering superyacht crew | |
| 20 June 2016 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | University co-hosts prominent maritime conference in Shanghai | |
| 20 June 2016 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | Gender at sea discussed at GEM conference | |
| 16 June 2016 | Jon Bilbao | Seafarers' Trust | Online news | Gender Empowerment and Multicultural Crews Conference 2016 |
| 7 June 2016 | Quay 2 Yachting | Online news | Girls on Deck: Connecting Exterior and Engineering Superyacht Crew | |
| 3 June 2016 | Robyn Santa Maria | OnBoard Online | Online article | Girls on Deck: Connecting Exterior and Engineering Superyacht Crew |
| 7 January 2016 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | Will more women soon be going to sea? | |
| 6 January 2016 | Ship Management International | Online news article | China's new policies could help increase numbers of women seafarers | |
| 28 September 2015 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | Joint launch of China Centre and maritime research project | |
| 22 September 2015 | Henry Norman | Seafarers' Trust | Online news | Launch of the Gender, Empowerment and Multilateral Crew (GEM) project |
| 23 June 2015 | Southampton Daily Echo | Newspaper | University to look at why so little women work at sea | |
| 23 June 2015 | Andrew Ross | Southampton Daily Echo | Online news | University to look at why so little women work at sea |
| 15 June 2015 | Warsash Maritime Academy | Online news | Research funded to support seafarers' awareness | |
| 3 June 2015 | Southampton Solent University | Online news | Research funded to support seafarers' awareness |
Other publications
| Date | Author/participants | Host/publisher | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2017 | Interview with Dr Kate Pike | Southampton Solent University | Magazine | Great Strides |
| January 2017 | Nautilus International Telegraph | Newspaper article | Research warns on harassment | |
| January 2017 | Nautilus International Telegraph | Newspaper article | Why global shipping needs a sea change in attitudes | |
| August 2016 | Nautilus International Telegraph | Newspaper article | Crews for the 21st Century | |
| July 2016 | Nautilus International Telegraph | Newspaper article | Cadet call | |
| July 2016 | Alison Rentoul | The Islander | Magazine | Project mention |
| February 2016 | Nautilus International Telegraph | Newspaper article | China 'set to become key supplier of seafarers' | |
| November 2015 | Mike Gerber | Nautilus International | Newspaper article | Partners in knowledge |
| July 2015 | Nautilus International Telegraph | Newspaper article | ITF Trust funds study of women seafarers |
Film/video
| Date | Author/participant | Host/publication | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 February 2017 | Southampton Solent University | YouTube | Inside Solent - January Edition | |
| 27 October 2017 | Maritime Foundation | YouTube | Online video | Shescape - Women in the Maritime |
| 12 July 2016 | Nautilus International | YouTube | Online video | |
| 16 June 2016 | Peter Tomlin (Merchant Navy Welfare Board) | Video | GEM Conference |
Other dissemination
| Date | Author/participants | Host/publication | Dissemination type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 April 2017 | Million Plus | Speaker's Commons, Houses of Parliament | Event | 25 and Rising - a celebration of modern universities |
| June 2016 | WISTA UK | Newsletter | News and Updates | |
| 20 April 2016 | Roundtable | |||
| November 2015 | PowerPoint presentation | |||
| 22 September 2016 | Million Plus | Online case study | The GEM Project - Southampton Solent University | |
| 24 June 2015 | Dr Kate Pike - interviewed by Katie Martin | BBC Radio Solent | Radio broadcast |
Researchers on the GEM project work in three separate local data collection teams. These teams are based in Nigeria, China and the UK.
Dr Kate Pike
Kate is a senior research fellow at Solent University and an experienced maritime researcher in sustainability and shipping. She currently leads the GEM project, which examines gender issues and seafarer’s welfare arising from multi-cultural crews, with teams in the UK, China and Nigeria.
Kate concurrently project manages the Shipping Awareness Project, an international research programme which examines the extent of public awareness of the shipping industry, with a view to ultimately making positive changes to the perceptions of the industry and thereby increasing the uptake of careers within it.
Kate’s interests have included work for the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature International (WWF), the Hamble Harbour Master and Portsmouth University. As well as being a senior research fellow at Solent University, she also has some teaching commitments on the maritime courses. Her PhD is in marine protection.
Dr Minghua Zhao
Minghua is director of the China Centre (Maritime), part of the Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering. Her employment experience also includes deputy director, Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich (2004-2015); deputy director, Seafarers International Research Centre, Cardiff University (1998-2004); and research associate with Women Studies Programme, University of Hawaii (1995-1998).
She is an established maritime sociologist with an excellent international reputation in specialist research on maritime policy, especially policy concerning human factors in shipping and fisheries, in particular on issues concerning gender and China. Specifically, Minghua's research covers seafarers’ labour market, their welfare and work and living conditions, employment policy and practice for women seafarers in commercial shipping, women’s participation in fisheries in European and Chinese coastal communities.
Emma Broadhurst
Emma was awarded a BSc Honours degree in Geography with Environmental Studies from Solent University.
She has assisted on a consultancy research project examining the concept of safety culture and its implantation on board, and is currently a research officer on the GEM project, which examines potential issues and barriers faced by both female seafarers and multicultural crews whilst operating on board.
Captain Pengfei Zhang
Pengfei is an experienced Master Mariner with management experience on ships and in port operations. He worked as assistant to the chairman in a shipping group, in charge of legal affairs and shipping business. He also supervised the construction of a 48000DWT training ship for SMU, the largest training ship in the world.
Pengfei is a qualified PRC lawyer and has been a practising maritime lawyer in Shanghai Allbrights Law offices since 2008, specialising in shipbuilding and financing, ship collision and SNP disputes. A PhD candidate of University of Greenwich, his research project is seafarers’ rights protection in China. Pengfei worked for Deirdre Fitzpatrick in SRI as an internship before teaching at Solent University.
Nancy Oluoha
Nancy was awarded a BSc Honours degree in Political Science from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria, and an MSc in Transportation Planning and Management from the University of Lagos, Nigeria.
She is currently undertaking an MA in International Maritime Policy at the University of Greenwich, London and writing a dissertation on ‘Women Seafarers – A Case Study of Nigeria'.
Amos Kuje
Amos is currently a PhD research student with the University of Greenwich on ITF Seafarers trust support. He was awarded and MSc in maritime affairs in 2005 at the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden; an MSc in transport management technology in 2000 in Federal University of Technology Owerri; and a Post Graduate Diploma in shipping technology from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron in 1997.
He returned to shore after six years working on board vessels in the oil and gas sector, and now has more assigned responsibilities with regard to seafarers' services. In all, he has 18 years' service in the maritime industry, including his current position as the scheduled officer for the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 in the Maritime Safety Administration in Nigeria, and extensive voluntary contribution with regard to seafarers' welfare where his current research interests lie.
Jianjun Wu
Jianjun Wu is a lecturer from the Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, China and he is a marine master. He received his MS degree from Dalian Maritime University and he is doing his PhD program in marine engineering system safety science and technology at Shanghai Maritime University. His research interests include maritime education and training, maritime safety, and environmental management. Recently, he has undertaken research on seafarers' safety related to fire fighting, marine survival, and safe literacy. As the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 took effect in China in August 2013, he studied occupational safety and health of seafarers, such as crews' workload.
