Meet the Finalists: Diversity Award
Over the coming days, Maritime UK will be profiling each of the finalists in this year’s Maritime UK Awards. Winners will be announced on 12 November in an event live streamed from Plymouth. Registration is open here.
Committed to fostering diversity and inclusion on all levels, Chevron are proud sponsors of the Diversity Award at this year’s Maritime UK Awards, due to be live-streamed from Plymouth this November.
The second of its kind, the 2020 Maritime UK Awards are open to businesses, charities and organisations of any size. For the Diversity Award in particular, entrants have had to demonstrate their true commitment to diversity, and evidence their work to create a more diverse workforce through collaborating and the sharing best practice.
The winners of the fourteen different categories part of this year’s Awards will be announced at a live-streamed event broadcast across the world from Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City on 12 November 2020 from 5pm.
The sponsors of the Diversity Award, Chevron Corporation, is a multinational energy corporation, headquartered in San Ramon, California, operating in more than 180 countries. Chevron believe in the power of humanity to solve any challenge, to overcome any obstacle, and to find responsible solutions that work for all.
Barbara Pickering, Vice President Operations, Chevron Shipping Company said:
“People are at the centre of everything we do at Chevron. We wanted to sponsor the Diversity Award to support and highlight the fantastic work of the UK maritime sector at improving and demonstrating the importance of diversity in business.
“It has been proven time and again that companies that embrace diversity in their workforce are not only more successful but can shape how we develop as a society. I can’t think of a more important time to celebrate those leading by example.”
Highly respected experts from a variety of businesses and government departments were involved in the judging panel for this year’s Maritime UK Awards, which celebrate the achievements of the UK’s maritime sector, which adds £46.1bn to the UK economy every year, and supports 1.1 million jobs.
Shortlisted for the 2020 Diversity Award are three strong entries: STEM Returners, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Tile Cross Academy, each demonstrating a commitment to diversity through different initiatives in the maritime sector.
STEM Returners was founded in 2017 in a partnership between the Women in Engineering Society (WES) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST). The STEM Returners programme has been focused on reducing the gender gap and lack of BAME students within STEM disciplines and maritime engineering.
45% of their maritime ‘returners’ are women where the national average in engineering is 5-7%: meaning that only 1 in 10 engineering roles are occupied by women. 28% of their maritime returners are BAME, significantly higher than the UK engineering workforce, where they constitute only 6%. 96% of those participating in the STEM Returners programme have been given a full-time position as a result of their placements.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) provides logistical support to the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and NATO partners. The diverse nature of its workforce is enabled through recruitment of people aged 16 or over, with no upper age limit. The RFA are actively involved in Maritime UK’s Women in Maritime Network, and the commitments made through the Women in Maritime Charter have already resulted in an increase in female employees, up to 8% of the total workforce in a traditionally male-dominated environment. 17% of all apprentices recruited in the last 12 months have been female, and there has been a 2% increase in BAME employees. Ethics Committees, chaired by the RFA Chaplain, have been held onboard ships which have shed light on the lived experience of members of the RFA workforce who belong to an underrepresented community.
Tile Cross Academy educates some of the most disadvantaged teenagers in the West Midlands. Despite being as far from the sea as you can get in the UK the school has made career opportunities in the maritime sector a key part of their social mobility agenda. By enabling their socially disadvantaged and BAME cohort to access these opportunities they are helping to drive future diversity of the industry, ensuring that it benefits from a wide range of backgrounds and thought.
Harry Theochari, Chair of Maritime UK, said:
“We’re delighted to announce the finalists for the Maritime UK Awards 2020. Across all fourteen categories we can see some genuinely world-beating products, services, and operators. The quality of entries this year is testament to the strength and commitment of our maritime sector to be world-class despite the most challenging of circumstances.”
Ben Murray, Director of Maritime UK, said:
“We were determined that these awards would go ahead, and in an ideal world would have been one of the first occasions at which colleagues from across the sector could come back together following COVID-19. With that not being possible due to new restrictions, we think it’s really important to celebrate the remarkable work that has been going on – in responding to COVID-19, and in spite of it – which sends a message of resilience and ambition.”
The 2020 Maritime UK Awards are hosted by Maritime UK South West and delivered by Plymouth City Council. Diamond Sponsors are the MLA College and the University of Plymouth.
Tickets to the live-streamed event are free and open to everyone. To register visit the official website here.