Women seafarers in Taiwan: policies, benefits, challenges, and bias in the data

Abstract

Gender imbalance and equality have been highlighted in the global seafarer market. Taiwan relies heavily on shipping development and three container shipping companies (Evergreen, Yang Ming, Wai Hai Line) in Taiwan are ranked as top 11 in the world. To highlight the important contribution of women seafarers in the maritime industry, and add to the growing body of research in this area, this paper adopted in-depth interviews (n = 30) with both female (n = 24) and male (n = 6) seafarers to explore their perceptions of women seafarers regarding policies, benefits, and challenges. Key themes were barriers to employment such as company policies but also perceived benefits of employing women such as their ability with specific tasks such as administration and conciliation, aspects not highlighted before. Also, and uniquely, we identify a significant obstacle to achieving gender equality, and that is that the data gathered was biased; often delivered through the paradigm of the very problem itself: gender inequality and a male-biased environment. Nevertheless, and through identifying this obstacle, we make suggestions for engaging with and overcoming such biases in future work, and also help increase gender equality in the industry in line with United Nations Development Goals.