WISTA committed to women in maritime industry

WISTA committed to women in maritime industry
22 August 2018 |

Claudia Ohlmeier, new CEO of WISTA Germany, tells Hamburg News about benefits for women

The higher the proportion of female executives in top management, the higher the likelihood of above-average business success, according to the McKinsey study Delivering Through Diversity. And this formula also applies to the maritime industry, according to Claudia Ohlmeier, the new CEO of WISTA Germany. Greater commitment by the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) to diversity in shipping, trade and logistics raises the chances of success throughout the maritime economy. Given the lack of skilled workers, this applies even moreso. In office since July 2018, Ohlmeier stressed: “No company can afford to do without women at present.”
Tandem to the top

Ohlmeier, 39, has been a member of WISTA since 2009. “The network meets three criteria that are important to me: internationality, maritime and women. WISTA International focuses on female managers. We begin a bit earlier in Germany to lend support right from the start of a career,” Ohlmeier noted. Last year, WISTA Germany initiated a new mentoring programme in which women in the maritime industry are strengthened and promoted in tandems of experienced manager (mentor) and a junior employee (mentee). “The one-year programme deals with individual topics that are important for the personal and professional development of the mentees. They can be questions about leadership or communication, but also about business etiquette, style consulting or body rhetoric.”
Climbing the global career ladder

WISTA Germany is presently seeking more opportunities and co-operation partners to start even earlier and to win over young women for the maritime sector – a good approach, given that only 16 per cent of students in maritime study programmes are female. “We want to change this by highlighting the many opportunities our industry has to offer,” said Ohlmeier, citing the good career opportunities worldwide. “Whether captain, shipping merchant or broker, many companies operate on a global scale and thus the whole world is literally open to us.”

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