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Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Iris Lavalle Acejo and Sanley S. Abila

The purpose of this paper is to show how gender differences are rubbed out and simultaneously reinforced in intentional and unintentional ways. It will do this by exploring the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how gender differences are rubbed out and simultaneously reinforced in intentional and unintentional ways. It will do this by exploring the experiences of female cadets/seafarers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is drawn from two independent PhD theses, where one of the theses conducted ethnographic fieldwork aboard a container ship in 2009. The other thesis used a case study research design of cadetship programmes in the Philippines using structured interviews, observations with the aid of fieldnotes and documentary analysis of records from seven maritime schools and cadetship programmes of ship-owners.

Findings

This paper reveals that the merchant vessel remains to be a “man’s world” where female seafarers are marginalised. It also shows that the maritime colleges in the Philippines deploy training practices that reproduce the gender biases against women participation to seafaring because the socialisation of cadets are fraught with the values and symbols of a hegemonic masculinity intent to silence other genders. On board ships, similar contradictory rubbing out and reproducing of gender differentials are observed. This shows how controlling gender is difficult.

Research limitations/implications

Observations conducted are limited to one shipboard voyage and whether the same manifestation in different types of ships, ship routes and crew mix would emerge require triangulation with other forms of data collection like in-depth interviews with seafarers on board.

Practical implications

Ethnographic insights offer valuable insights for novice researchers and those conducting shipboard research.

Originality/value

Not much study has been done with respect to the presence of women on board and how they disrupt and play with masculine space. This paper provides empirical evidence and insights on the ambivalence of integrating women in the seafaring profession owing to official and unofficial policies and training that intentionally and unintentionally construct women as unfit to work as sea-based professionals.

Details

Journal of Organizational Ethnography, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6749

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 November 2022

Iris Lavalle Acejo and Luisito Cagandahan Abueg

Based on reflections of the issues encountered from ethnographic studies aboard ocean-going merchant ships and a seafaring community in the Philippines, pressure points on…

Abstract

Based on reflections of the issues encountered from ethnographic studies aboard ocean-going merchant ships and a seafaring community in the Philippines, pressure points on seafarers' lives that situate them in a precarious situation are explored. Due to the pandemic, the decline in total remittances was due to a huge fall in sea-based remittances of about 81% in 2020. The widespread loss of jobs has magnified vulnerabilities in the seafaring sector. The emergent exploration of worker vulnerability in cruise tourism industry is useful in identifying the necessary support for cruise workers to mitigate the long-term undesired effects of the pandemic. The fieldwork also reveals that the demand placed upon seafarers' daily and organizational lives are gendered. Women and men are differently constituted in the shipping and tourism industries which affect work opportunities and family values. The chapter aims to contribute to the discussion on inclusivity vis-a-vis the recovery plan of destination tourism by underlining the gender dynamics in cruise tourism, as it aligns with the general roadmap of growth for Southeast Asian cruise tourism program. We show that the transnational nature of cruise tourism on both labour and employment is interlinked with destination tourism, and the gender dynamics identified and reviewed will help identify and further promote inclusivity in the regional recovery tourism plan.

Details

The Emerald Handbook of Destination Recovery in Tourism and Hospitality
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-073-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2010

Kathy S. Mack

The purpose of this paper is to explore the lessons of globalization from the standpoint of Norwegian seafarers' career experiences. An isolated and multicultural shipboard social…

1173

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the lessons of globalization from the standpoint of Norwegian seafarers' career experiences. An isolated and multicultural shipboard social milieu provides a unique context for examining the challenges and impacts associated with globalized work.

Design/methodology/approach

Descriptions of the historical contexts of globalization, Norwegian shipping and seafaring are followed by the use of on‐line qualitative methodology to access globally dispersed and mobile informants.

Findings

By studying the historical development of globalization and analyzing seafarers' accounts, the “material realities” of global impacts may be better understood.

Research limitations/implications

The shipboard context provides scholars and practitioners with an opportunity to learn lessons about the economic/social/historical values of certain occupations. Globalization has rendered multicultural workforces both at sea and on land. Seafarers have knowledge claims about managing and working technologically advanced and diverse work environments. “Male‐only” seafarer respondents limit understanding about the availability of Norwegian women seafarers to meet the recruitment and retention challenges faced by the shipping industry.

Practical implications

The IMO has stressed that the human element, seafarer response and cooperation, is critical to the effectiveness of global maritime security initiatives. Norwegian seafarers believe that policy‐makers tend to make decisions that reflect misguided assumptions and age‐old myths about sailors and shipboard organizational life. The paper raises awareness about the “business of seafaring”; which Tony Lane, UK seafarer turned sociologist, once argued is quite different from the “business of shipping”.

Originality/value

Exploration in a maritime context provides information of original value unavailable from other types of organizations.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

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