The Truth About Gender Diversity in the Maritime Industry

By Jenny Johnson, Maritime Inclusion Partners

Photo courtesy Jenny Johnson

Many of you reading this may already be familiar with my background in Scouting. In 1992, as a young teenage girl, I was fortunate to be introduced to Sea Scouts and the numerous opportunities it presented. I became a member of the Sea Scout Ship Genesis, which had a rich history, having been established shortly after girls were permitted in Sea Scouting in the 1970s. Our fleet did not include any mixed-gender ships, leading to heightened competition on various levels. At 14 years old, I quickly learned to refrain from requesting or accepting assistance from boys. Our leadership would reprimand us if they suspected we allowed a boy to help! While this may seem extreme decades later, the confidence and empowerment instilled in many young girls through these practices is something we are missing in today’s society. I never felt inadequate, weak, or incapable. Which is very different than how most young girls feel today.

The disadvantage of this empowering experience is that it did not adequately prepare me for the realities of the workforce. The idea of my gender being anything but strong and capable was foreign to me until I got my first deckhand job at 19. I worked on a small passenger vessel with eight deckhands, all of whom shared the same room. I honestly thought nothing of it; having cruised with boy Sea Scouts during overnighters, we often slept scattered on deck. My new shipmates seemed unfazed by this arrangement, so I settled in and focused on my work. That was our primary reason for being there, right? However, it wasn't long before I began to feel treated as a novelty, often becoming the subject of jokes, primarily from the passengers. Many would ask if my parents knew where I was and why they would allow me to be there alone, which was confusing because why would my parents be at work with me? I could sense the astonishment from passengers while I handled lines or set up the gangway. They seemed surprised by my ability to perform these tasks. In contrast, my shipmates never made me feel undermined or out of place. Even while sharing accommodations, I never felt unwelcome. My presence was treated like any other deckhand.

It was at that moment I realized that I was doing something not many women had done, and I began to feel self-conscious for the first time in my life. That feeling has stayed with me throughout my journey in the maritime industry. As I grew older and honed my skills at sea, my gender became more pronounced—yet not in a positive light! My time in Sea Scouts equipped me with exceptional seamanship and marlinspike skills that many deckhands lack. Eventually, I was not just the girl deckhand but I was the girl deckhand who was outperforming my male counterparts. This was not well received by my shipmates, and I started to question whether deep-sea work was the safest environment for me.

Eventually, I returned home and sought employment with some local tug companies. Each one returned my resume, stating they could not have women on their boats. After eight years of working on boats, this is where my sailing career ended.

It has been nearly 18 years since I was turned away from a job due to my gender, and this practice unfortunately continues today, albeit in a more subtle manner. With in-person resume submissions becoming increasingly rare, it is now easier to dismiss candidates based solely on gender without direct communication. And some maritime companies are very open internally about gender requirements for jobs and training opportunities, citing berthing restrictions.

But let’s see what these requirements would look like if they were published publicly.

Deckhand Position Available

Responsibilities:

- Assist with handling lines, gangways, anchors, and marine equipment under the supervision of Captains and Mates.

- Perform daily exterior cleaning, line handling, and standing helm watches to assist the Captain and Mate in steering the vessel.

- Maintain cleanliness of all exterior decks, verandas, windows, furniture, and marine spaces.

- Participate in a rotating day-night watch and task schedule, averaging 12 hours per day.

Qualifications:

- Applicants must be at least eighteen (18) years of age for shipboard employment.

- Must be a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder.

- Willingness to work a minimum of 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, for up to 28 weeks is required.

- Ability to meet moderate physical demands, including lifting, bending, climbing, and standing or walking for extended periods.

- Due to current berthing restrictions, we are only able to accept male applicants at this time.

Of course, no one is going to post a job like this because they don’t have to. They think they can achieve the same result by weeding out female or male resumes in the application process depending on the berth available. But if the hiring manager's goal is to prevent mariners of different sexual anatomies from sharing a room, then this process is very flawed. We cannot guarantee the physical anatomy of anyone. So I have to ask, is this about sex or gender, and what exactly are maritime companies trying to prevent? 

I was at an industry conference recently speaking to a drill ship master who shared with me that their crew is terrified of a transgender person joining the ship and has asked the captain if there is a way to make someone declare themselves as transgender when they join. The captain also shared that they feel completely unprepared and on their own about how to handle these concerns from the crew, getting zero support from the office. 

I asked the captain what is the crew saying they were afraid of. It all seemed to boil down to the changing rooms on deck, and there was this belief that a transgender person would be indiscreet and make no effort to be modest. The crew didn’t want to be caught off guard by seeing genitals contrary to the person's perceived gender. 

This was a lot for me to take in, but I could see that so much of what was being said was coming from a huge gap in awareness and understanding. But that’s nothing new and definitely not isolated to the maritime industry. As we evolve as humans, the gender landscape will continue to evolve as well. Holding on to these binary traditions of no mixed-gender berthing will perpetuate the lack of female mariners, especially in leadership positions. The truth is no one wants to share a room. We would all prefer our own rooms, but when that is not possible, the gender of the mariner who is already in the room should not be the deciding factor of who gets hired. Because of so-called berthing restrictions, gender is always considered a factor when hiring, transferring, and promoting female mariners. 

When I speak on this topic, I am often asked if I think men and women should share rooms, and my answer is always, YES! True maritime professionals of all genders are capable of and should behave appropriately in the workplace. But I also believe that mariners should be given an opportunity to turn down a job or promotion if they are not comfortable sharing a room, regardless of gender. I think it's time we put a spotlight on this open secret and start having real conversations about how we get past it.