WISTA International (Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association) and researchers from the Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES) in Brazil conducted a survey focusing on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women in shipping based on the work, family and community life of WISTA members.
According to the findings, 61.51% of participants felt that women demonstrated leadership during the pandemic crisis at work or in their communities.
Another key finding was that for the majority of the group (54.81%), household activities increased after the onset of the pandemic.
The survey, which was conducted by Priscilla de Oliveira Martins and Alexandro De Andrade from UFES, was completed by 239 participants from around the world and participants ranged from 23 to 68 years old, with an average age of 44 years.
The psychosocial indicators that the researchers examined in the survey were: work-family conflict, life satisfaction, work engagement, psychological capital and community engagement.
Regarding work during the pandemic period, most survey respondents switched to remote work at the same salary and saw no increase in their responsibilities. However, they did notice an increase in the number of working hours.
Moreover, an interesting finding is that work-family conflict is negatively associated with flexible work culture, life satisfaction and enhanced family work.
Psychological capital and enhanced family work predict work engagement, at the same time, enhanced family work predicts work disengagement. In addition, flexible work culture predicts life satisfaction.
Despina Panagiotou Theodosiou, president of WISTA International, commented, “The Covid pandemic was an important and unprecedented event experienced by everyone around the world. Understanding the impact it had on women working in the maritime sector was essential for WISTA International, especially because it was the first time there was relevant research from our perspective.”
