Women in Seafood Australasia - Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women within the Australian seafood industry

Project number: 2018-174

Project Status:

Completed

Budget expenditure: $201,500.00

Principal Investigator: Heidi J. Mumme

Organisation: Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA)

Project start/end date: 19 Sep 2019 - 19 Sep 2021

Contact:

FRDC

Need

A comprehensive and wide ranging understanding of the current levels of engagement of women in the seafood sector will provide a valuable and ongoing resource to the wider seafood sector to increase women's engagement and participation.

To support and promote the value of fully engaged women participating effectively and helping to secure the future viability of the Australian seafood industry WISA needs to build critical skills of seafood women, delivered in a way that is accessible to them and encourages participation from rural and regional areas. This is particularly important for women under 30.

Researching (nationally and internationally) and better understanding the value of having greater diversity within seafood enterprises, associations, research agencies, at senior management, board and committee level will help WISA create an integrated online and offline skills development platform. The platform will need to be easily accessible by women, focused on the specific and particular needs of women and support and encourage greater participation by women in the seafood industry.

While there are resources available e.g e-leaders program there is a need for these resources to be reviewed and updated to target the specific needs of seafood women. Additionally, WISA needs to form strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships/alliances with other relevant organisations and networks and work with them to capitalise on opportunities provided through these partnerships.

Having skilled women is not sufficient to ensure that women are successful and effective contributors. It is also necessary to develop a specific pathway program for women to gain the confidence necessary to nominate and be selected for key management, board and committees. This will help seafood enterprises and organisations (industry, research and government) to increase diversity by enabling access to skilled women able to contribute to their success.

Objectives

1. 1 To create a baseline (quantitative and qualitative) against which progress and impact of WISA activities can be measured.

2. 2 To establish an online skills platform to provide access to training by women in rural and regional areas that will support greater diversity in seafood enterprises, research agencies and industry associations.

3. 3. To deliver the Women in Seafood Pathways program targeting at least 15 graduates initially.

4. To establish a communications and extension program to highlight the roles of women in seafood and the value diversity provides to the seafood industry and community.

Final report

Authors: Kirsten Abernethy Heidi Mumme and Karen Holder

Final Report • 2022-10-01 • 1.13 MB

2018-174-DLD.pdf

Summary

This FRDC project, Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women in the Australian seafood industry, was pivotal for WISA in supporting its future direction as an organisation. Research undertaken showcased the significance of the roles and contributions of seafood women and exposed the structural and cultural barriers faced by women in the industry. The provision of a bespoke entry level leadership program for women using an online format has provided WISA with greater understanding of the professional development needs of seafood women and how to deliver these effectively. The popularity and success of communication and extension activities incorporated into three key events throughout the project, including presentations, panel sessions, webinars, workshops and networking events, met several objectives including: increasing industry recognition of the contributions of seafood women, highlighting the value inclusion and diversity provides to industry and communities, and identifying ways forward to shift structures and cultures impeding women’s participation and progression in the industry. Underpinned and supported by this project, WISA underwent a renewal including developing a strategic framework to deliver more to its members targeting the evidence-based needs of women in seafood, as well as transitioning to a new company structure which has resulted in a more effectively governed organisation.

Final Report • 2023-02-01 • 2.84 MB

2018-174-2-DLD.pdf

Summary

Women of the Australian Seafood Industry: Women’s contribution, their roles and what women need to succeed, reports the findings of the research component of the Women in Seafood Australasia (WISA) project: 2018-174 Understanding, supporting and promoting effective participation by women in the Australian seafood industry.
Women are an important component of the Australian seafood industry, present in every sector working in the supply chain and with the industry, and every organisation type. Until this project, Australia had little data on women’s contributions to the seafood industry and the roles women play. Furthermore, there was little industry-wide understanding of women’s experiences working in the Australian seafood industry, if and where there are inequalities and gendered differences in experiences, and where barriers lie to women fully participating and progressing in the industry.
This national project used a combination of data sources, including Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, in depth key informant interviews, and an online survey, to reveal answers to these questions first asked by Women in Seafood Australasia twenty years ago.