Proceedings of the IAME 2013 Conference July 3-5 – Marseille, France Paper ID 250 Employment of women at sea. Perceptions, attitudes and experiences of male seafarers in the Greek context Ioannis Theotokas Research on Shipping and Ports Laboratory (RESHIP) Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean 2A Korai Str, 82100 Chios, Greece, +30 22710 35287 gtheotokas@aegean.gr Chrysa Tsalichi Research on Shipping and Ports Laboratory (RESHIP) Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean 2A Korai Str, 82100 Chios, Greece, +30 22710 35287 sttm10041@stt.aegean.gr Abstract The aim of this paper is the examination and analysis of the factors affecting the progress of women in the seafaring profession in the context of Greek-owned shipping industry. Since the seafaring profession is male-dominated, one of the factors that determine these prospects is the acceptance of women as colleagues onboard by men. The lack of conditions that facilitate cooperation among crew members onboard can affect negatively the retention of women to the seafaring profession. To gather data on men seafarers’ perceptions and attitudes, a field survey was conducted. The results of the analysis reveal that while the majority of male seafarers perceive women and men as equals when it comes to eventual professional success (in general and in the seafaring profession in particular), only a minority believes that women can perform as well as they do. Despite the fact that they assess positively the experience they had with their female colleagues, the majority is not willing to accept women as their superior in the ships hierarchy or as port captains ashore. At the same time and quite paradoxically, the majority of those who have experience in working with female colleagues appear satisfied with the latter’s performance. The conclusions of this research provide interesting insights on the issue and can contribute to the design and development of policy measures that can contribute to the increase of recruitment and employment of women in the seafaring profession as well as to the increase of the retention rate of those already employed. Keywords: Employment, seafarers, career at sea, women, gender.