Blog: The importance of International Women’s Day and the Future of the Maritime Industry
Today marks International Women’s Day and we are fortunate that this coincides with an exciting programme to support National Careers Week and our first Maritime Careers Day! This week continues to be a fantastic opportunity to shine a spotlight on our sector and the fantastic progress being made.
Maritime UK has an established Women in Maritime Network, set up in 2017, which meets regularly to address gender fairness, equality and inclusion within the maritime sector. The dedicated network brings together professionals from across the maritime sector to identify practical steps to increase the number of women in maritime. It is important to mention that the Women in Maritime Network actively encourages ‘allies’ to join in the conversation. The maritime industry will not change without those within it contributing towards progress.
The key theme for International Women’s Day 2023 is 'Embrace Equity’. As the maritime sector continues to face a period of huge changes whilst we work towards Maritime 2050 goals, we remain committed to identifying practical steps to increase the number of women in maritime.
Looking towards the future of the maritime industry, we are pleased to share that the Maritime Roadshow for Girls will be visiting three further locations this year – Fleetwood, Plymouth, and the North-East of England! This project aims to inspire female students aged 11-14 to choose STEM subjects and to give them an insight into the Maritime Careers available. Thank you to the Merchant Navy Welfare Board on behalf of the Department for Transport for their support of this programme. You can find out more about the Roadshow for Girls here.
National Careers Week is a fantastic opportunity to bring Maritime to the forefront of careers conversations. The week will see a packed agenda of activities across the whole of the UK, including the launch of the Maritime UK Solent new maritime engagement project, South Devon College hosting a Women into Marine Day, Artemis Technologies opening their doors in Belfast and much more!
Maritime UK have also been running webinars throughout the week with over 7,500 primary school students from 72 schools registered to attend an interactive virtual event on Friday supported by three of our Maritime Industry Ambassadors!
The key theme for National Careers Week is ‘Together’ and it is now critical that the maritime industry comes together and inspire the engineers, seafarers, brokers, scientists, VTS officers, shipbuilders and more of the future!
We hope to see you at a Maritime Careers event in the future and we look forward to celebrating International Day for Women in Maritime with colleagues across the industry on the 18th May!