Columbia Group Urges Shipping to Focus on Keeping Women in Maritime Careers

Manila, Philippines. Columbia Group has urged the shipping sector to take stronger steps to keep women in seafaring and help them advance, cautioning that hiring alone will not close the gender gap. The company made the appeal at its second She Beyond Conference, held in Manila.

Conference aims

The event took place within Crew Connect Global and gathered female seafarers to exchange experiences and build connections. Participants also discussed how the industry could open up more opportunities for women across the whole course of their maritime careers.

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She Beyond follows an inaugural edition and is part of Columbia Group’s broader commitment to supporting its staff, from their first entry into the maritime field to senior leadership roles.

Women remain underrepresented

The initiative comes at a time when women are still strongly underrepresented in the maritime workforce, especially in roles at sea. The latest IMO–WISTA Women in Maritime Survey, published in May 2025, found that women made up only one per cent of the seafarers employed by the organisations surveyed. The findings point to the need for more recruitment, retention and career development opportunities.

Columbia Group considers drawing more women into the profession to be only one part of the challenge. It believes more attention is needed to make sure women can remain in the industry and move into senior positions.

Call to rethink progress

Claudia Paschkewitz, Director of Sustainability, Inclusion and Diversity at Columbia Group, said the industry should reconsider the way it measures progress. “We have spent years talking about attracting more women into maritime, but recruitment is only the beginning,” she said.

In her view, genuine progress depends on whether women have equal chances to stay, advance and build lasting careers. She added that looking at the number of women joining the industry is not enough, and that it is also necessary to check whether they receive support, promotion and the opportunity to reach senior positions.

For that reason, Paschkewitz argued that retention and career development should be treated as priorities rather than secondary concerns. “If we are serious about gender equality, retention and career progression must receive the same attention as recruitment,” she said.