Analysis of Female Interest in Maritime Education at Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy Varna and at the Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Split

Abstract

The promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment is one of the main goals of the United Nations. The aim of this study is to analyze the gradual change of conservative perceptions about the role of women in shipping. Maritime education and training institutions are fully involved in the process. The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy and the Split University’s Faculty of Maritime Studies are a part of this process of general change in human attitude towards the acceptance of women on merchant ships. Data on female admittance and graduation are collected by both academies. In the period examined, i.e.  2012 – 2018, 129 women were enrolled at and 60 graduated from the NVNA. 281 women were enrolled at and 68 graduated from the Faculty of Maritime Studies. The attitudes of female candidates at the academy Nikola Vaptsarov were studied by means of a questionnaire. The growing number of female candidates at Nikola Vaptsarov’s Navigation, Ship Engineering and Electrician studies proves that a competitive environment was created on a completely new basis, namely the ability of women to work at an equal footing with men in a purely male-dominated profession. This paper opens the door to future research of the recruitment market required to establish the reasons behind skepticism about women on board and the ways to overcome this conservative line of thinking.