Lessons from the IMO’s International Day for Women in Maritime: Women Speak Honestly About What Needs to Change

We recently asked a group of women from our Membership and across the maritime and offshore sectors to [share their experiences] about their careers, the challenges they have faced, and what they think needs to change. The responses came from women at various career stages and across different roles including officers, former commercial divers, QHSE managers, and marine surveyors, and though each career was very different, the common themes were eye opening. 

What came through most strongly was an overriding message of having to do something their male colleagues have never had to do: demonstrate, over and over, that they belong in the industry through proof of expertise, working harder than their male colleagues, or having to resist dismissive or sexist comments.  

It painted a systemic problem that is prevalent across all sectors and regions, with several contributors describing versions of the same experience. Picking up the phone and having the client immediately ask to be put through to a male colleague. Sitting in meetings and making a point that goes unheard, then watching it land perfectly well when someone else makes it. Feeling the need to know the technical side of a role inside out, not because the job demanded it, but because being caught without an answer carried a cost that it simply did not for the men around them. 

Every woman working in a male dominated field can recognise this as the clear form of bias that it is. Being passed over because of your gender, or generally held to a higher standard of proof than the man sitting next to you, are all factors that add up to burnout and disappointment that are unrelated to the difficulties of the job, but due to a culture that upholds these practices. As Camilla Da Costa from TechnipFMC put it, there is a level of doubt to overcome before the work is even seen.  

What is notable is that many of these women were careful not to paint their colleagues as villains. The issue is less about individual bad behaviour and more about an environment where certain assumptions are part of the culture. Being in a minority can impact confidence even when nobody is being actively hostile, and that must be acknowledged in order for change to take place. 

Another thread that ran through our testimonials was about infrastructure, or lack thereof. Women having to fund their own diver training where male colleagues did not, because there were no clear educational pathways for them. Offshore workplaces not being designed with women in mind as story after story highlighted inadequate sanitary facilities or PPE only available in male sizing and fit. This factor alone can cause additional risk to the female wearer, than if they were to go without PPE altogether. As one commentator at the IMO’s International Day for women session at their offices on 18 May asked: “why is proper PPE provision still such a problem in 2026?” In theory, infrastructure of facilities and PPE procurement would appear as some of the more straightforward things to fix, and yet the deficiency in these areas persists. 

The interviews were revealing and raised many similar concerns, one of which was on the topic of leadership. Seeing women in senior roles, whether technical or operational makes a genuine difference to whether younger women can picture themselves building a long-term career in the industry. Disturbingly, some contributors mentioned never having had a female manager in decade long careers. Debbi Garreffa, of Cyan Renewables noted that “the lack of visible role models early on was a challenge — when you don't see many women in senior operational or leadership roles, it can sometimes make it harder to picture the pathway ahead”.  

Marni Zabarsky, HSEQ Manager-Aqueos Subsea, made the point that “when leadership is consistent, diversity tends to take care of itself. The aim isn’t to make offshore careers easier for women, but to make sure opportunity is tied to capability”. 

Others spoke of the difficulty in returning to the industry when taking a break for motherhood, highlighting how that added another layer to the questioning of their expertise. Coupled with the guilt some women with small children felt for returning to the workplace, the experience provided unnecessary anxiety to an already challenging stage of life. 

The themes raised by the women contacted for this piece, and who were all asked three very basic questions, were all too common, and very familiar to women working in male dominated fields. We suspect there’s hundreds, if not thousands more who share similar stories and feel the same frustrations.  

We thank them for bringing these issues to light as part of this crucial awareness day, and for highlighting how much work remains to be done in the sector to get a little closer to equality. Our interviewees took part in our initiative in the hopes that their stories would lead to the removal of barriers that keep ambitious, capable, and hard working women out of an industry struggling with an aging workforce, and which must establish pathways to attract and nurture hundreds of thousands of skilled, diverse, and adaptable professionals over the next decade.  

Surely, removing barriers to entry to half the population would be to everyone’s benefit.