Closing the gender gap in Ocean Science?

Women in Ocean Science have come a long way, but we still have a good distance left before we close the gap between the number of male and female senior ocean scientists.

Even though more than half of bachelor and master degrees are held by women, the numbers for female senior researchers are significantly lower.

There is a gap and HUB Ocean would like to focus on this today.  In celebration of International Women’s Day that occurs annually on 8 March, we envision a future with more gender equality, diversity, and inclusiveness. HUB Ocean is deeply committed to the advancement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on SDG 5 “Gender Equality”. 

Women are directly involved in all aspects of ocean interaction. Yet cultural and structural barriers continue to impact gender equality in marine industries and in the field of ocean science. In marine and coastal industries, 50 percent of workers are women, but they are disproportionately employed in low-skilled and low-waged jobs.  

Women are also underrepresented globally in ocean science, particularly in highly technical, governance and decision-making positions, despite more women choosing higher education in this field. Women hold 53% of bachelor and master’s degree in this field, yet women’s academic qualifications often fail to translate into successful careers.

and a mere 28% are senior researchers.

Women at HUB Ocean 

HUB Ocean is making concerted efforts to promote gender equality within our organization. Currently, more than half of our staff and management team are women, including our CEO. Today we celebrate these women who are breaking down gender barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field. Two of our colleagues, Tara and Elisabet, shared with us their professional struggles and achievements. And offered advice to the future generation of women and girls contemplating careers in this field.   

Tara Zeynep Baris is a Senior Data Scientist at HUB Ocean and holds a Ph.D. in Evolutionary and Marine Genomics. She pursued a career in marine science to ensure the long-term survival of all the incredible living beings in the ocean. She is most inspired by using modern technology to address some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Elisabet Haugsbø is the Head of Data at HUB Ocean and has a background in Engineering and Cybernetics. Her interest in ocean data was motivated by her desire to understand the root causes of problems through data. Being a woman in the ocean data industry, and previously in cyber security, she has experienced feeling “alone” and “different”.

However, she believes times are changing as more women enter the workforce and diversity increases. When it comes to choosing a career and educational path, her advice to everyone, and specifically women, is follow their hearts more.

Ways Forward

Ensuring gender equity in ocean science is essential both because it is the right thing to do, and because it is beneficial for the advancement of the SDGs. Achieving SDG14 “Life Below Water” and the health of our planet will require a range of perspectives, knowledge, and understandings. We must address gender inequality to embed much-needed knowledge and expertise into sustainable ocean governance and achieve more innovation and discoveries in the Blue Economy.

New initiatives are required to systematically identify and dismantle gender-related challenges in ocean science and industries. Important recommendations that already exist include for instance, ensuring greater gender equity in decision-making, creating mentoring and leadership opportunities for women, and co-creating ocean science management plans with women.

Data disaggregated by gender is another important recommendation for the sector. Gender differentiated data can assist decision-makers in assessing the situation and develop evidence-based solutions for better gender equity. The first step in this process is to raise awareness of the need to collect such data, then make it widely available nationally and internationally, including through data sharing platforms such as ours.

Fortunately, we are seeing good steps in the right direction, especially in the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science. We must build on current initiatives and create new ones in order to truly transform ocean science into a field where women can grow and make a difference.