The World Maritime University (WMU) has reported some of the highest levels of gender diversity in shipping, with women representing nearly 40% of recruits to its postgraduate programme in 2023, according to new figures.

The WMU, founded 40 years ago by the International Maritime Organization, reported that 49 women, representing 38.6% of the total, had started masters courses at its Malmo, Sweden, campus in 2023, according to a circular sent to the IMO. That represented a small increase from the previous year.

‘We’re not doing this because diversity is cool, it has a business sense’
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The organisation said a total of 1,295 women had graduated since it started operations in 1983, representing less than a quarter of the total. The WMU said a quarter of its teaching staff were women, including two full professors.

The WMU was headed for eight years by Dominica’s Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, who stood down in June and joined the race to become the first secretary-general at the IMO.

She was one of three women on the seven-strong ballot paper but they were all knocked out early in the ballot, in a blow to diversity campaigners.

Outgoing secretary general Kitack Lim warned in May that shipping would only be able to tackle the great challenges of decarbonisation and automation if it promoted the role of women.

Women make up less than 2% of the global seafarer workforce, but they remain under-represented in all areas of the industry.

The IMO’s 2021 Women in Maritime Survey found more females in shipowning companies than in any other sector, but they still made up only 34% of the workforce.

Maritime associations had the next highest proportion of women (16%). Women made up 28% of company boardrooms, according to the survey.

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