The ‘Leaky Pipeline’ of Gender Equality in Ocean Science

By Mollie Amor
February 2021

Gender and Ocean Science: The Stats

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) community is and has historically been overwhelmingly male. Even in 2019, less than a quarter (24%) of those working in STEM fields in the UK were women.

In ocean science, the statistics are not much better. Despite the fact that the impacts of climate change on the ocean disproportionately affect women – women and children are 14% more likely to die or be injured in ocean-related natural disasters – they are hugely underrepresented in the field responsible for understanding and mitigating the effects of climate on physical ocean and marine life health and functioning. Currently, the global average percentage of women in ocean science stands at 37%.  

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Barriers To Progress

Why is there a gender gap in marine science? Ocean research can be defined as a ‘big’ science, in that it often requires sophisticated and expensive equipment, from funding research vessels to developing extremely technological submersibles. This has been the case even since the conception of our current perception of marine science, when the first scientific oceanographic research cruise, the British Challenger expedition in 1872, excluded women from the research and even from the ship itself.

Even though ocean science has become more accessible since then, career paths for women in ocean science face a ‘leaky pipeline’ – the proportion of men and women who enrol as students in ocean science are roughly equal; therefore, the flow of women into the field is strong, however this number strongly tapers off as they progress along the career track, leading to a small percentage of women holding senior faculty positions. From clear bias to lack of educational support, and from discriminatory subtleties to sexual harassment, women have faced a plethora of personal, institutional, and cultural barriers that have blocked their progress in the same way as men’s within marine science.

What Is Being Done To Mainstream Gender In Ocean Science?

There is an understanding and awareness of gender inequality in marine science, and several projects and initiatives have been developed on global, national, and regional levels to try to promote gender equality in the field:

  • During the 1980s and 1990s, the National Science Board (the US National Science Foundation’s [NSF] governing body) launched a series of programs that included grants, graduate fellowships and POWRE (Professional Opportunities for Women in Research) awards, aimed at retaining women in the academic pipeline through financial support.

  • The “Initiative for Women Marine Scientists” by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in UNESCO aims to celebrate the achievements of women ocean scientists and hopes to create role models for young women to “identify with and follow”.  

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Despite these efforts, gender-based biases still exist in ocean research as a result of these barriers that have not been properly addressed. Many initiatives focus on simply hiring more women into scientific roles without considering the cultural and institutional changes needed to support them. Of course, this is not the case for all female ocean scientists.

Many have successful and fulfilling careers and now, more than ever, there is a clear recognition of all women in ocean science who contribute hugely to advancement in the field and its implications for the mitigation of climate change. However, in addition to celebrating the achievements of those women marine scientists who did make it, there is a need to formulate more direct and tailored support in the form of gender equity policies and the application of not only improved hiring processes, but enhanced practices and governing to foster equitable opportunities for women within the field of ocean science and research.

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