Since the role of women in logistics is always changing, we’re providing an update on some of the trends we’re seeing around the world.
Women in supply chain roles – virtually no change from 2017 to 2018
Logistics Management recently released a new article showing the percentage of women in various supply chain roles over the past few years. Unfortunately, in 2018 we did not see growth in the representation of women. For the most part, the levels were comparable to the prior two years. One bright spot is that the gain in C-Level representation of women in logistics, which grew from 7% in 2016 to 15% in 2017, maintained at 14% in 2018.
Slight gain in the number of women in maritime shipping
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report called the Review of Maritime Transport 2018 which has a section on “assessing gender equality aspects in shipping”. In this section, they note that “an increasing number of women are entering the shipping industry in all roles, including seafaring and operations, chartering, insurance and law”. However, women make up only about 2% of the maritime industry and have faced many challenges such as high levels of workplace harassment and difficulty advancing. A few associations have been created to provide women in this area with support, such as the Programme on the Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector, but much more work and effort will be needed to make this an area that is welcoming to women.
Many top companies for diversity have large shipping operations
If you’re a woman looking for a career at a company that has some of the best diversity practices, you’ll want to look at a new article in Entrepreneur entitled “These Were the Best Companies for Women in 2018”. This article showcases companies that ranked high for inclusiveness in a study conducted by the career site Comparably which “pulled together 10 million rankings across 50,000 companies” and looked at aspects such as culture, compensation, and leadership. Several of the top companies highlighted have large shipping operations such as General Mills, PepsiCo, and FedEx.
We’ll share more in the future as we see new developments in women’s role in the logistics industry. For now, if you’re interested in hearing in-depth interviews from executives about the latest supply chain developments, I encourage you to take a look at our Transportation Storm Center or send us an email.
