Are men from Mars and women from Venus? Not in our book...

The ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ series of pop psychology books by US author John Gray has been hugely successful. But he has also drawn criticism for making sweeping generalizations and perpetuating unhelpful gender stereotypes. At WNI we prefer to be more nuanced; we’d like to think that men and women are both in fact from Jupiter, the planet of expansion and development. Both genders contribute equally to making our company richer, better and more inclusive. Yin and yang, it’s all about balance.

Although historically male-dominated and perhaps somewhat sexist, the maritime industry is gradually being pulled into the 21st century as women become more and more integrated into the workforce at all levels. They certainly already contribute an enormous amount to the success of a host of shipping companies, ports, logistics and service providers, regulators and many more stakeholders in the maritime value chain. Long may this continue.

While there is almost unanimous academic consensus that men and women don’t differ in general intelligence, specific gender differences in cognitive abilities remains the subject of research, debate and public curiosity. Some believe such differences are trivial, while others suggest stronger/weaker performance in certain areas depends on variables such as testosterone or estrogen levels. We are far from being experts in such matters, so offer no opinion except perhaps to venture that women generally seem to have a more evolved, or rather accessible, intuition. But this might also be a stereotype trap.

What is particularly fascinating for us a commercial enterprise always looking to improve is research that suggests a critical mass of women at all levels of an organization can have a very concrete effect on company performance. For example, in 2020 researchers at global asset management company Robeco measured the contribution of women in the workplace using a dataset of over 20,720 observations from SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessments (now the S&P Global CSA) collected over five years between 2013 and 2018.?Using sophisticated techniques to crunch the data, the researchers clearly identified a link between the proportion of women at different levels (board, management and entire workforce) and financial fundamentals. A positive relationship with profitability seems to kick in when a company has more than 20% of women board members, more than 30.2% in management and over 44.7% in the total workforce. That is certainly food for thought if you want to boost your competitive edge. But if you still think men are brainier and women should be chained to the kitchen sink, you are, basically, a dinosaur and deserve to go bust.

Gender equality and providing the same professional opportunities for both men and women in the workplace should be high on the ESG agenda of forward-thinking companies in every sector of the economy. In the maritime context, we were delighted that 18th of May marked the first inaugural IMO International Women in Maritime Day. Secretary general Kitack Lim urged the global maritime community to work together to create working environments that are enabling, supportive and inclusive of diverse participation with no bottlenecks. The day’s theme – ‘Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment’ – is a great focus to have for the next 12 months, wherever you are on that journey.

At WNI we’ve broken down quite a few barriers already and strive to fully recognize the contribution of our female employees. We want to join in showing the many faces of women in maritime by presenting here three of our Athens-based female experts. We asked each of them a few questions about what they do and why they do it, and we hope you enjoy their insights. They do a fantastic job supporting our customers and we’re very happy to have them on board.

What are your day-day tasks and?what skills?do they?require??What is the best part of your tasks in WNI??

Anna: My day usually consists of staying up to date with customer’s needs and ensuring overall seamless communication with each vessel as well as their operator. Drawing from experience and a versatile skill set that is more based on critical thinking is very helpful when you need to be quick and decisive in your actions. Apart from dealing with challenging and thought-provoking tasks daily - being able to work in a gender balanced workplace where there are strong women leaders and colleagues is just a plus.?

Athina: My days are full of interesting and various responsibilities. Office management is one of them since I am organizing and coordinating with many offices and departments within WNI; so, this is a huge challenge, as this evolves people from around the globe. Therefore, having excellent communication skills and being able to bring people together are important aspects in my position. Despite differences in location and nationality, trust and open communication enable us to keep everyone on the same page in WNI. That is what I enjoy the most about my position in WNI.

Stella: Working in the demanding shipping industry, many different tasks and skills are required to achieve your day-to-day targets. My job is to keep our valuable customers satisfied, so I can have the role of a secretary and the role of a diplomat at the same time. But what I enjoy most in WNI is the multicultural environment and the challenges this brings.

What inspires you professionally and do you have any special role models?

Anna: A good source of professional inspiration can be your colleagues – the group of people that you trust and work closely with on a day-to-day basis can really inspire you if there is open communication and a genuine appreciation of each other’s roles within an organization.

Athina: Inspiration comes from experience. You can work for many years and still have the same people as a role model. You remember a voice, a gesture, maybe ideas, thoughts. And suddenly, another one comes into your life and then, it is magic! Suddenly you have the new one in your head. A special role model is there, in front of you, and all this because, you have come through difficult times and you have this great support, that keeps telling you NOT to give up. This is a special role model for me.

Stella: I am always being inspired by people who are full of kindness and fairness, willing to spread their deep knowledge and support their colleagues, no matter their job title. I am trying hard to become this kind of role model in my business life and inspire my colleagues as well.

What do?you think?needs to happen to improve visibility and recognition of women in the?maritime?industry?

Anna: The maritime industry has made great strides in the past decade to promote and support women’s visibility and the multitude of roles they have in the industry that might have been predominantly male in the past. However, a lot more needs to be done and we should raise awareness about what needs to change and how we can go about doing so. Each woman that is already a part of this industry whether her role is greater or smaller is of equal importance and is helping improve visibility and recognition one day at a time just by being here.

Athina: Women are most welcomed in maritime industry; however, this is something that is happening in the last decade. To improve visibility, they need to come forward in great speed and determination, as the women’s complicated mind is working in many aspects, at the same time. This is something men cannot compete with. And of course, recognition comes after years of experience.

Stella: The most important step concerns our society. We must learn how to better recognize gender inequality. Once this is appreciated, then equal treatment, career-building opportunities and benefits will come naturally.?

If it is true that men’s and women’s brains are wired somewhat differently, what do you as a female expert bring to your role that gives you an advantage i.e. being able to think about more things at once?

Anna: Everyone has a unique perspective that they bring to their professional role, and this unique voice should be encouraged and included in any company setting. The main challenge is to overcome personal biases and gender stereotypes and work together to ensure that more diverse voices are heard not on a competitive level - trying to prove that one gender is better than the other at certain things but on a level of understanding and recognition of each person’s value.?

Athina: This is so true...! Our brains are working totally in a different speed, and results at the same time, fixing problems, analyzing situations, and thinking aspects repeatedly. Analyzing is very important to us women, which is something quite difficult for the brain of men to embrace. Eventually, we combine difficult problems and solving them easily in a large scale of communication with all sides.

Stella: I believe there are no male or female characteristics. Being professional means working on many different skills to bring results. I understand that due to our society setup, men and women have developed different characteristics, but if you try hard you can develop as many as you like. ?After all, my moto is “one person can do, every person can do”.