Round table meeting dedicated to attracting women to challenging professions held in Saint-Petersburg
On 22 September 2015 a round table meeting took place in St Petersburg, Russia to look at what motivates women to embark upon a career in challenging professions, such as at sea and in space, that have been traditionally the preserve of men, press center of Sovcomflot says. Organised by the Russian Federation of Cosmonauts, the Admiral Makarov State Maritime University and SCF Group (Sovcomflot), also the event hosts, the meeting saw contributions from a wide range of leaders in their field.
The round table meeting involved over 30 of participants, including: professors of the Admiral Makarov State Maritime University; SCF Group psychologists; female ship’s officers and female students of the Admiral Makarov Maritime University. The key speakers of the conference included the youngest Russian Cosmonaut Mrs Yelena Serova and Third Officer Ms Lyana Mitrofanova from Sovcomflot.
The roundtable meeting conclusions were:
• Challenging professions depend above all for their effectiveness upon attracting people with the right skills, knowledge and commitment, rather than seeking to apply gender-based quotas
• High profile women have an important part to play as role models to inspire young women to broaden their career horizons and ‘dare to be different’. This is true even though gender stereotypes have largely been broken down in careers in space and at sea.
• Careers in space and at sea need to be demystified - especially for women
• Employers should have the courage to see women first as professionals and then as women rather than vice versa. This approach is critical to eradicating gender bias.
Russia has a track record of facilitating the progress of women in their careers, dating back to the early twentieth century. A recent international research report ‘Women in Business: the path to leadership’, published by Grant Thornton (2015), found that women represent 40 per cent of those in senior management roles in Russia. This compares with 15 per cent in Brazil, 14 per cent in Germany and just 8 per cent in Japan. The organisation of this round table meeting reflects a continuing desire, on the part of leading Russian organisations, to maximise the full potential of women in the workplace.
Commenting on the conference Mr Sergey Frank, President of Sovcomflot said:
“This round table has been an opportunity to share experiences and to raise the profile of careers in space and at sea amongst women. At Sovcomflot, human capital is our greatest asset and, together with the Russian Federation of Cosmonauts, we are committed to employing and developing the highly skilled professionals that our respective organisations depend upon. Anything we can do to encourage applications from women not only makes us better corporate citizens it also makes sound commercial sense.
“What this round table meeting also demonstrates is a need to build awareness of careers at sea and in space, especially as when such awareness is low amongst women in contrast to other professions such as medicine and law. I’m very grateful to all the round table participants for their input and especially to Mrs Serova and Ms Mitrofanova for being excellent role models as successful women.”
SCF Group (PAO Sovcomflot) is Russia’s largest shipping company and a world leader in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons as well as the servicing and support of offshore oil & gas production. The company’s fleet numbers 144 vessels with a combined deadweight of 12.48 million tonnes. SCF Group specialises in the shipping of crude oil, liquefied gas and a wide range of oil products. The Group’s vessels perform complex towing operations and geophysical survey work at offshore oil & gas fields. Sovcomflot supports large-scale offshore energy projects in Russia and overseas, including: Sakhalin-I, Sakhalin-II, Varandey, Tangguh, Peregrino, Prirazlomnoye, Noviy Port, Yamal LNG and others. SCF Group employs over 9,300 personnel both on land and at sea. The company is registered in Saint-Petersburg and has representative offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, Madrid, Singapore and Dubai.