CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter contains related literature, related studies,

theoretical frame work and conceptual frame work.

RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter includes the role in women in Maritime

Industry, demands, and some major contributions of women on the

said industry.

1. Women in Maritime History

Maritime history is filled with stories of great sailing ships,

plying the massive oceans of the world, run by rugged,

swaggering, masculine sailors. It may be that the 19th century

sailing vessel was a male dominated and defined world, yet women

are assuredly part of this rich history.

For different reasons women through the centuries have stepped

outside the status quo, beyond societal definitions of what is

suitably feminine. These reasons included responding to dire

emergencies while at sea, patriotic wartime duty, economic

necessity, a chance at a better life, search for adventure,

devotion, and love.

2. The study of Ilias A. Bassias, et al.

The study of Ilias A. Bassias is focused on women who decided to

follow a professional career associated with the sea to go

maritime through reading for a degree in maritime or marine

studies in Greece. Yet the sociological profile of those

enrolling as students in these situations remains under-

research. The paper discussed the results of the survey that was

conducted in marine academies and universities aiming to reveal

the aspirations and goals expressed by first year female

students. More specifically, the paper elaborates on students

social and maritime related background; motivation,

consideration, and sources of information before enrolling on

such program as well as revealing professional goals and

aspirations after graduation. Particular emphasis is placed on

important characteristics of the female population of this

sample and the analysis of any gender differences observed.

 3. The study of International Labor Office (ILO)

Based on the study of international labor office the potential

of women seafarers has, in general, attracted remarkably little

attention from commentators and policy makers. Based on the

extensive interview with ship owners, trade unions, maritime

regulators and women seafarers, depicts the struggle faced by

women to gain employment, advancement, and highlights the

potential resource that women represent in the industry. It

demonstrates that effort to mainstream gender throughout an

organizations work, can lead to solid and useful results. The

figure reflects the prevalence of entrenched attitudes regarding

the abilities and characteristic of women, which pervade the

industry at all level and in all sectors, the study suggests.

While some ship owners and managers with experience of employing

women are very positive about their performance.

4. Article of Jaime Narbutas

The article of Jaime Narbutas entitled Women in the Maritime

Industry stated that historically, the maritime industry has

not been an attractive career path for women. It was one of the

most male dominated careers that you could find. In the past,

jobs in maritime involved a good deal of physical strength and

culture prohibited women from participating at the operational

level. The biggest issue of all was that of social

acceptability. It was not acceptable 30 to 40 years ago for

women to serve alongside men in such an isolated environment.

There were also same very persuasive folk tales like having a

woman on a ship would bring bad luck. It is not surprising that

there are no historical role models for women in maritime in a

professional capacity. Technology has changed the boundaries of

our lives and what used to be limitations are now mere

challenges. Women have a lot more freedom with access to areas

that were previously prohibited but the introduction of women

into this very traditional environment has been a slow and

sometimes difficult process.

5. Reasons Behind the Lack of Women Officers in Maritime

Industry article by Neha Singh

While women are breaking the traditional barriers in every

walk of life, merchant navy jobs are surprisingly conspicuous by

womens absence. And though there might be a handful of women

earning their bread and butter working on board, merchant navy

still remains a male dominated industry.

 What exactly is the reason behind lack of women crew in

merchant navy is a tricky question with more than one answer.

Life onboard is tough, something that breaks even the most stoic

ones. Women are often felt out of place on ships primarily

because of the nature of the job which might require quite a lot

of manual labor. And since women are often looked as the

weaker-sex, people are skeptical of whether a woman has what

it takes to endure such harsh conditions.

But sometimes reasons may involve more than just the

physical capability of a woman. Since the beginning of mankind,

there has been one cardinal rule; men will earn and women will

take care of the house. Though we have come a long way from

those pre-historic times, the idea of women leaving their homes

for months together, is something not many can relate to. Many

men find it intimidating and frustrating when a women leaves

home for so many months to go away on a job.

There may be times when the choice, of not venturing into

the sea, might be a womans own. Even if a woman continues to

sail after marriage, chances are, she will give it all up when

she starts a family. Staying away from family might be something

a woman may take into account but leaving children behind can be
very tough for her. The situation is different for women who

work the typical 9 to 5 jobs as they see their children at the

end of the day, but with a job like merchant navy, seeing their

children is not possible for months at end. And for women no job

in the world is worthy of this kind of sacrifice.

I think itll be a while before we see women venturing out

at sea without any hesitation and fear. Though times are

changing and many companies are hiring women crew, to see the

whole industry change, can take a lot of time and effort. The

technological advances on the ships ensure that the hard-work

and manual labor is significantly reduced, hence making it

easier for women to handle things onboard. Also with changing

outlook towards working women, many husbands may actually

appreciate if their wives sail and travel around the world. At

the end of the day, it doesnt matter what brings more and more

women to this profession as itll surely be a very welcoming

change.
Endnotes

1http://www.marineinsight.com/marine/life-at-sea/reasons-behind-

the-lack-of-women-officers-in-maritime-industry/

2http://www.spc.int/DigitalLibrary/Doc/FAME/InfoBull/WIF/14/WIF14

_23_Narbutas.pdf

3 http://www.osg.com/index.cfm?pageid=74&itemid=42

4 http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25128112_ITM

5 http://www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/maritimewomenhistory.htm