27
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Backgroundtothestudy
Inrecentyearsithasbecomeincreasinglydifficultfor
Swedish Seafarers to find their first job at sea,
although senior officers still enjoy a relatively
secured future once employed (Arbetsförmedlingen
2015:12).Atthesametime,thereseemstobeahigh
turnover of
onboard staff in the Swedish shipping
industry. A common estimate has been that the
averagestimeaSwedishship’sofficerremainsinthe
occupation is only eight years (SMA 2010:17,
Arbetsförmedlingen2010:10,2014:15).Accordingtoa
surveymadein2010,over20%ofseafarersaged30
oryounger,andclose
to18%ofthosebetween31‐42
yearsofage,declaredtheywerelikelytoleavetheir
occupation within a few years (Hult 2012a). One
possible reason for high turnover among seafarers
may be traced to their long periods of time at sea,
separatedfromhome,familyandfriends.
The assumption
of a connection between high
staff turnover and long periods away from home,
calls for an attempt to shed some light over the
possible correlation between seafarer’s family
situation and their occupational commitment.
Intuitively, these recurring separations from home
maybeemotionallyharderforseafarerswhohavea
spouseor
partner,comparedtothosewhoaresingle;
The Impact of Family and Job Content on Swedish
Seafarers’ Occupational Commitment – A Gendered
Issue?
C.Hult&C.Österman
KalmarMaritimeAcademy,LinnaeusUniversity,Sweden
ABSTRACT:Ongoingresearchhasindicatedimportant effectsonseafarers’occupationalcommitmentdueto
genderandfamilysituation.Inthisstudy,thesefindingshavebeenelaboratedfurtherbycontrollingforthe
effect of perceived work content. Statistical analyses were employed, using a survey material of Swedish
seafarers collected from a national register in 2010. The results showed that the effect on occupational
commitmentofhavingchildrenathomeisstronglypositiveandstatisticallysignificantforwomen.However,
the significance was dependent on the level of satisfaction with the job content. It was suggested that the
seafaringoccupation
could beviewedas a cooping strategy, althoughonly appropriate if the job content is
agreeable.Anotherimportantfamilyeffectwas,asexpected,thepositiveeffectofhavingarelativeworking,or
havingworked,atsea.Thiseffectwas,however,onlysignificantformaleseafarersintheagegroupbelow
the
early40’s.Itwasconcludedthatthiseffectismainlyemotionallydrivenandnotparticularlyinfluencedbythe
actualjobcontent.Theresultsfurthershowedthatworkinginthecateringdepartmentcomeswith a strong
negativeeffectoncommitmenttotheseafaringoccupationforwomen.Thiseffect,however,lostits
significance
aftercontrolforjobcontent.Itwasconcludedthattheeffectofsatisfactionwithjobcontentonoccupational
commitmentisgenerallyimportant,withtheexceptionofwomen,withoutchildren,workinginthecatering
department.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 10
Number 1
March 2016
DOI:10.12716/1001.10.01.02
28
andparticularlydifficultiftheyhaveyoungchildren
at home. There may, however, be family
circumstanceswhichhavethepotentialtostrengthen
commitment to the seafaring occupation. One such
circumstancewouldbetohaveacloserelativewho
works, or has worked, at sea and as such acts as a
sourceofinspiration.However,oneimportantfactor
for the decision whether to stay or leave an
occupation would also be the perception of the job
content at work. Thus, how the job content is
experiencedandvaluedmayinteractwiththeeffects
from family factors on seafarer’s occupational
commitment.
1.2
Theobjectivesofthestudy
Thepurposeofthestudypresentedinthispaperisto
investigate Swedish seafarer’s occupational
commitment.Specifically,theobjectivesofthestudy
are to investigate (i) whether family situation have
any net‐effects on occupational commitment for
Swedishseafarers,(ii)whetherthepatternsofeffects
are
similar for both men and women, (iii) whether
the effects are similar in deck, engine and catering
departments, and (iv) whether the findings can be
explainedbyhowthejobcontentisperceived.
2 THEORETICALBASISFORTHESTUDY
2.1 Earlierresearchonattitudestowork
Quantitativeresearchonseafarers’
attitudestowork
is not abounded. There are, however, a number of
studiesfromdifferentpartsoftheworld(e.g.Guoet
al.2005,Guoetal.2010,Panetal.2011,Sencilaetal.
2010,Turker &Er2007).Aparticularinterestcanbe
seenwithinthecruisesector,probably
duetothelink
between employee job satisfaction and customer
satisfactionin service occupations (e.g. Larsen etal.
2012, Testa 2001, Testa & Mueller 2009, Testa et al.
2003). Moreover, there are five attitude studies on
Swedishseafarerswithquantitativeapproaches.Two
olderstudiesthatfocusonjobsatisfactionon
board
merchant ships (Olofsson 1995, Werthén 1976), and
threemorerecentstudiesthatfocusoncommitment
toworkandoccupation(Hult2012b,Hult&Snöberg
2013,Hult&Österman2015).
2.2 Occupationalcommitment
Succinctly, commitment to an occupation has to do
with perceptions of the generalities for that
occupation.Inthat
respect,the prospect ofadecent
income is, of course, one important factor. More
interestingly, there is a qualitative and emotional
driverforthistypeofcommitment,whichhasdrawn
mostattentioninearlierresearch(cfLeeetal.2000).
Itis,forexample,primarilywithinanoccupationthat
people
can develop a sense of social status and
identity. For rather obvious reasons, research has
shown that strong occupational commitment
restrains decisions to leave a job (Hult 2012b,
Nogueras2006).
Earlier research show that the duration of
education,age,andyearsinvestedintheoccupation
have positive effects on occupational commitment
(Nogueras 2006). Returning to the high turnover
among Swedish seafarers, it has been shown that
timespentonthesameshiphasanegativeeffectfor
youngerseafarers(Hult&Snöberg2013).Ithasbeen
reported that perceptions of social quality and
leadershipqualityintheworkorganizationinfluence
occupational
commitment (van der Heijden et al.
2009). A positive correlation between occupational
commitment and perceived autonomy at work has
alsobeenreported(Giffords2009).
2.3 Occupationalcommitmentandfamilysituation
Thefirstassumptioninthisstudyisthatsomesocial
circumstancesmayhavenegativeeffectsonseafarers’
occupationalcommitment.Itis
plausiblethathaving
toendurelongperiodsofseparationfromhomeand
familyisemotionallyharderforthoseseafarerswho
haveaspouseorpartner,comparedtothosewhoare
single. The existence of problems related to family
separation among seafarers also finds support in
earlierresearch(e.g.Thomaset
al.,2003).Moreover,
itislikely thattheseparationwouldbeparticularly
difficultifthereareyoungchildrenathome.
On the whole, this rather intuitive assumption
concerning effects on occupational commitment
strikesclosetoBeckerʹs(1960)sidebettheorywhich
suggests that continuance in a job does not solely
dependonthedegreeofaffiliationwithit.Rather,it
is a result of a more holistic calculation including
impactsonotheraspectsoflife.Inthiscase,thismay
assume a possible situation of conflicting
commitments;onecommitmentdirectedtowardsthe
family and another towards the occupation.
However, some
of these assumptions have been
challenged by recent research. Results suggest that
the relationship between different commitments in
lifemaybeamatteroffarmorecomplexity,atleast
whenitcomestoseafarers(Hult&Österman2015).
The next assumption is firmly anchored in the
tradition of socialisation and social
capital theory.
Here,weassumethattheexistenceofarelativewho
is, or has been, working at sea will have a positive
effect on commitment to the seafaring occupation.
Thesocialrelationshiptotheterm‘capital’ hasbeen
neatlyexplainedbyPortes(1998:7)asfollows:
Whereaseconomiccapitalis
inpeople’sbankaccounts
and human capital is inside their heads, social capital
inheres in the structure of their relationships. To possess
socialcapital,aperson mustberelatedtoothers,anditis
thoseothers,nothimself,whoare theactualsourceofhis
orheradvantage.
Studiesonsocial
capital maydealwiththeeffects
ofsocialcontacts,socialtiesandsocialnetworks,on
occupationalchoices;thelikelihoodofsuccessonthe
labour market and on satisfaction with job related
aspects (Bentolila et al. 2010, Flap & Völker 2001,
Mouw 2003, Requena 2003, Seibert et al. 2001).
Another strand
of research, in the realm of social
capital, focuses on family effects on people’s career
outcome (e.g. Egerton 1997). This effect has
metaphorically been labelled career inheritance
29
(Goodale & Hall 1976, Inkson 2004). It has been
suggested that this effect can arrive from parenting
practise during childhood, from reinforcement of
work values and vocational interests during
adolescence,andfrommoretangiblesupportlateron
(Aldrich & Kim 2007). According to Gottfredson
(2002:139):
…peopletendtogleaninformation
abouttheiroptions
frompeopleincloseproximityandwhothuspopulatetheir
birth niche, which constitutes a recipe for minor
adjustmentratherthanmajorchange.Itshouldcomeasno
surprise,then,that people’s adultnichestendtoresemble
theirbirthniches,thatchildrenre‐createthesociety…
Attempts
to incorporate inheritance in a more
genetic sense have also been made (Aldrich & Kim
2007, Gottfredson 2002). Here, it is argued that
socialisation theory have difficulties explaining
individualdifferencesincareerchoices,especiallyfor
peopleoriginallyfromsimilarsocialniches.Instead,
a combination of socialisation and individually
driven search for
a person−environment fit in the
social world has been suggested. From the
adolescent’s perspective, the career formation may
here be described as a struggle of circumscription
andcompromisesofpreferencesonasociallychaired
map of gender and prestige differences in
occupations(Gottfredson2002).
The debate of nurture vs
. nature lingers on,
however,astrayfromthetopicofthisstudy.Insum,
the bulk of research gives us reason to believe that
job relevant social capital is positive for individual
perceptions and satisfaction within a specific
occupation. When it comes to the maritime sector,
however,ithasbeenpointed
outthatthechancesfor
post‐adolescentbuildingofsustainablesocialcapital
isincreasinglychallengedbecauseoftheworldwide
dispersion of shipping companies and frequent
changesof crews(Grøn & Svendsen2013, Sampson
2013). Thus, the parental or family related social
capitalmaybeofparticularimportanceforseafarers’
perceptionsoftheoccupation.Infact,theassumption
that those seafarers who have close relatives
working, or having worked, at sea are likely to
expressgreatercommitmenttotheiroccupationthan
others finds some support from an earlier study
(Hult 2012b). Thus, family situation entails social
capitalthatmatterforseafarers.
However,thevalue
of this capital seems to be higher for men than for
women(Hult&Österman2015).
The third assumption for this study is that the
perceived job content may alter the initial family
related effects on occupational commitment. The
assumptionrelatestoaresearchtraditionwithfocus
on the importance of organizational and workplace
characteristics for the development of individual
attitudesatwork.Thisapproachhasbeenappliedin
amultitudeofstudiesonworkrelatedattitudes(e.g.
HackmanandLawler1971,Mottaz,1988,Hult2005,
2012b).
2.4 Thestudy’srationale
If career choice largely is a compromise
based on
information from people in close proximity, and
preferences towards positions on a socially chaired
mapofgenderandprestigeinoccupations,wemay
expect different patterns of commitment due to
gender. The seafaring occupation has historically
beenatraditionallymaleoccupation.Acloserelative
atsea, oftena
man, may therefore work better as a
rolemodel.Andassuch,maybere‐createdwithless
effort by young men than by women. Thus, we
expectthatthepositiveeffectfromcloserelativesat
seaonoccupationalcommitmentwillbestrongerfor
maleseafarersthanforfemale.Likewise,because
the
cateringdepartmenttraditionallyhasbeenrelatively
femaledominated,weexpectalowerpositive effect
here,thanindeckandenginedepartments.
As pointed out earlier, the relationship between
different commitments in life is a complex one.
Nevertheless, we expect, as an initial effect, that
occupationalcommitmentwillbelower
forseafarers
whohaveaspouseorpartner,andforthosehaving
young children at home. Finally, we expect that
individual evaluation and perception of the work
contentwillaltertheseeffects.
3 METHOD
3.1 Thesample
This study is based on a sample taken from the
Swedish Register of Seafarers
using unrestricted
randomselectionofdeckandengineeringpersonnel
forthemen,andofcateringpersonnelforbothmen
and women. Because women still are strongly
underrepresented among deck and engineering
personnel, all women from these departments were
drawn into the framework. The only effect of this
decision would be
that it gives more, of very few,
women in these departments the opportunity to
participate.
Thedatawerecollectedviapostalsurveysduring
the period of March 8 to September 8 in 2010. The
questionnaireas a whole was based on pre‐existing
questionnaires from the International Social Survey
Programme,Work
OrientationsIIIstudy(ISSP2005).
The final material consists of 1309 respondents
with an answering rate of 54%, which must be
considered adequate given the general trend of
shrinking answering rates. More important, the
control of different aspects, such as gender, age,
onboardposition,tradearea,andtypeofship,
found
the material representative for Swedish seafarers.
Although sufficient demographic and work‐related
representativity,itisalwaysdifficulttoestimatethe
likeliness of non‐response effects on the attitudinal
representativity. An educated guess would be that
peoplewhotakegreatinterestintheirworkmaybe
more likely than others to
complete this type of
questionnaire and therefore be over‐represented in
thesample.Ifso,theattitudinalpatternsfoundinthe
analysis would still be correct, but the levels of
commitment would be slightly overestimated (e.g.
Hult&Svallfors2002).
30
3.2 Processingofdataandanalysis
The Statistical Package Social Science (SPSS) were
used throughout the analysis. The dependent
variable of occupational commitment was
constructedas an indexusing Principal Component
Analysis (PCA) and internal reliability control. In
order to control for the influence of different and
competing variables, multiple
regression analysis
(OLS regression), allowing adjusted effects, were
usedinseveralstepsoftheanalysis.
The dependent variable of occupational
commitment was developed with theoretical
connectionstothePorterscale(Porteretal.1974)and
the three‐component measurement (Meyer & Allen
1991) and carefully adapted to the specifics of
the
seafaring occupation. The variable is based on five
attitudequestionsexpressedasstatementsonwhich
respondents were asked to take a position by
selectingafixed option on afive‐point LikertScale,
fromstronglyagreetostronglydisagree.Aftermapping
thepatternoflatentfactorsunderlyinganumber
of
different indicators, using PCA, the appropriate
indicatorsforoccupationalcommitmentcameoutas
showninTable1.
Theindicatorswererecodedsothat0denotesthe
optionthatentailsthelowestcommitmentand4the
highest.Theindicatorswerethensummarizedinthe
index of occupational commitment. To facilitate
interpretation
of the results, the index was divided
by its maximum value and multiplied by 100. The
indexisthuspermittedtovarybetween0and100.
Table1. Indicators of occupational commitment for
seafarers
_______________________________________________
Pleaseagreeordisagreewiththefollowing:
_______________________________________________
TherearequalitiestotheseafaringoccupationthatIwould
missinanotheroccupation.
Theseafaringoccupationispartofmyidentity.
Theseafaringoccupationisnotjustajob,itisalifestyle.
Ifeelproudofmyoccupationasaseafarer.
Iwouldprefertoremaininthe
seafaringoccupationevenif
Iwereofferedajobwithhigherpayonland.
_______________________________________________
Table 2 presents the mean value and standard
deviationfortheindex.Thehighmeanvalueandthe
low standard deviation indicates that seafarers are
quite united in their high commitment to, and
identification with, the seafaring occupation.
Cronbach’sAlphaisatestoftheinternalcorrelation
amongtheindicatorsin
each index– thehigherthe
value(between0and1),themorereliabletheindex.
Table2showsthattheindexturnoutverystable.
Table2. Occupational commitment index – Swedish
seafarersin2010
_______________________________________________
Occupationalcommitment
_______________________________________________
Meanvalue(0‐100)71.7
Standarddeviation16.78
Cronbach’sAlpha0.82
_______________________________________________
4 RESULTS
4.1 Thefullsample
In Figure 1, the effects of the family situation on
occupational commitment are presented. It is
apparent that having family with connection to the
seafaringoccupationistheonlyfamilyaspectthatis
significantlypositiveforcommitment.
Figure1.Occupationalcommitmentandfamilysituation
Figure2illustrateshowthemainstrengthofthis
effect originates from the two youngest age
categories,whichunderstandablyindicatesthatolder
relatives inspire occupational identification among
youngerseafarers.
Figure2.Effectsofarelativeatseaoncommitmentbyage
group
Moreover,theoldertherespondentsare,themore
likely they are having a younger relative in mind
when answering the question. Thus, for the
remainder of the study we will concentrate on
seafarersnotolderthan42yearsofage.
4.2 Seafarersaged19‐42
Table3and 4 displaythe
effectsof family situation
on occupational commitment for men and women
separately.Bothtablesdisplaytheresultsofmultiple
analysesinfoursteps(I‐IV).Newvariablesandtheir
effectsareenteredintoastepwiseincreasingmodel.
The mean value of the total comparison group is
displayed for each step
at the top of the table.
Statisticalsignificanceisdenotedinboldtype.Three
asterisks (***) denote the strongest significance and
oneasterisk(*)theweakest.Numbersshowninbold
withnoasteriskindicatethattheeffectisclosetothe
lowestsignificantlevel.
Table 3 displays the effects on commitment
for
men.StepIshowstheeffectsfromhavingrelativesat
seacomparedtohavingnosuchrelatives.InstepII
to IV, the effects of being married or cohabiting,
having younger children, and finally a control for
onboard department are stepwise introduced to the
31
model. Here we can see that these variables do not
alter the significant effect from having relatives at
sea.The effect from having children ispositive and
closetosignificant.Theeffectfrombeingmarriedor
cohabitingisnegativeandclosetosignificantinstep
III.Theeffectofworking
inthecateringdepartment
isnotsignificant.
Table3. Occupational commitment and family situation,
male,age19‐42
_______________________________________________
I II III IV
_______________________________________________
Meanvaluesforthe 67,79 69,01 68,66 69,01
comparisongroup,norelatives
atsea,notmarried/partnered,
andnochildrenunder18
Havingarelativeatsea 7,41 7,35 7,29 7,41
(comparedtonothaving *** *** *** ***
one)
Beingmarried/partnered‐‐1,90 ‐3,17 ‐3,07
(comparedtobeingsingle)
Havingchildrenunder
18 ‐‐3,21 3,31
inthehousehold(compared
tohavingnone)
Catering(comparedto ‐‐‐‐3,80
otherdepartments)
Explainedvariance(%) 0,05 0,06 0,06 0,7
Numberofrespondents 360 360 359 358
_______________________________________________
Significancelevels:Boldand***=0.001level,**=0.01
level,*=0.05level,boldonly=0.1level.
InTable4theeffectsoncommitmentforwomen
are displayed in the same stepwise manner as in
Table 3. Here, the attitudinal pattern for women is
shown to be totally different from that of men.
Having relatives at sea has no impact at all on
occupational commitment for women. The
effect
from having children is positive, strong and
significant, when department is controlled for. The
effect of working in the catering department is
however negative, strong and significant. The only
effectresemblingthemalepatternisthatfrombeing
marriedorcohabiting, which isnegative and rather
weak.
Table4. Occupational commitment and family situation,
female,age19‐42
_______________________________________________
I II III IV
_______________________________________________
Meanvaluesforthe 69,36 70,47 70,40 73,12
comparisongroup,norelatives
atsea,notmarried/partnered,
andnochildrenunder18
Havingarelativeatsea 1,34 2,36 1,93 2,03
(comparedtonothaving
one)
Beingmarried/partnered‐‐3,37 ‐4,42 ‐4,40
(comparedtobeingsingle)
Havingchildrenunder18‐‐6,66 8,81
inthehousehold(compared*
tohavingnone)
Catering(comparedto ‐‐‐‐7,95
otherdepartments)**
Explainedvariance(%) 0,002 0,01 0,03 0,09
Numberofrespondents 135 134 134 134
_______________________________________________
Significancelevels:Boldand***=0.001level,**=0.01
level,*=0.05level,boldonly=0.1level.
4.3 Theeffectsofjobcontent
The material used in this study contains several
statementsconcerningtheimportanceandperceived
satisfaction with various aspects of the job. After
mapping the pattern of latent factors, four
appropriate aspects, concerning dimension of job
content, appeared. Each aspect included indications
oftheimportanceof
andsatisfactionwiththeaspect.
In Table 5 the four aspects are presented together
with their internal correlation regarding both the
importanceofandsatisfactionwiththeaspect.
Table5.Jobcontentonboard
_______________________________________________
Importanceof Satisfactionwith
theaspects theaspects
_______________________________________________
Aspectsofjobcontent
Goodcareeropportunity
Interestingtasks
Workautonomy
Skilldevelopment
Cronbach’sAlpha:0.660.75
_______________________________________________
The indicators were summarized within two
separateindices;onefortheimp ortanceplacedonthe
aspects,andoneforthesatisfactionwiththeaspects.
The indices were then divided by their maximum
valuesandmultipliedby20sothattheexplanatory
variables can vary between 0 not important (the
importance of
the aspect) and not satisfied (the
satisfaction with the aspect), to 20 very important
respectivelycompletelysatisfied.InTable6and7these
two varia bles are used as control on the results in
Table3and4.
Table6. Occupational commitment, family situation and
workcontentmale,age19‐42
_______________________________________________
I II
_______________________________________________
Meanvaluesforthe 69,01 43,0
comparisongroup
Havingarelativeatsea 7,41 5,93
(comparedtonothavingone)*** ***
Beingmarried/partnered ‐3,07 ‐3,99
(comparedtobeingsingle)*
Havingchildrenunder18in 3,31 3,04
thehousehold(comparedto
havingnone)
Catering(comparedtoother
‐3,80 ‐3,32
departments)
Importanceofjobcontent(0‐20)‐0.45
Satisfactionwithjobcontent(0‐20)‐1.46
***
Explainedvariance(%)0,716,4
Numberofrespondents358 352
_______________________________________________
Significancelevels:Boldand***=0.001level,**=0.01
level,*=0.05level,boldonly=0.1level.
InTable6,stepI,thepreviousresultformenare
presented. In step II, the effects of job content are
introduced.Wecanseethatsatisfactionwiththejob
contentincreasescommitmentwith1.46foreachstep
onitsscalebetween0‐20.Sincethepositiveeffectof
having a
relative at sea is decreasing in step II we
may conclude some sort of correlation between the
experiencesofarelativeatseaandtheperceptionof
work content. However, the net effect of having a
relativeatseaisstillsignificantatthehighestlevel.
The only effect displaying
change in significance is
32
that of being married or partnered, where the
previous negative effect now becomes significant.
Thus, controlling for satisfaction with job content
extractssomeofthepositiveeffectsinpreviousstep
whichmovesthealreadynegativeeffectevenfurther
in negative direction. This indicates that having a
partnerdoesnotinfluence
occupationalcommitment
formale seafarerssignificantlyinsofar that theyare
satisfiedwiththeirjobcontent.
Table 7, step I display the previous result for
women. In step II, the effects of job content are
introduced. In this case, the satisfaction with job
contentincreasescommitmentwith1.0foreachstep.
Also here we can see that satisfaction with the job
content extracts some of the positive effects in
previous step. In this case the positive effect of
having young children at home is no longer
significant. This indicates that the positive effect on
occupational commitment from having children
among female seafarers
depends to an important
degree on their level of satisfaction with the job
content.
Moreover, the negative effect of working in the
cateringdepartmentisalsolosingitssignificance in
stepII.Thisindicatesthattheeffectofperceivedjob
contentonoccupationalcommitmentismuchweaker
in the catering
department than in the comparison
groupofdeckandenginedepartments.
Table7. Occupational commitment, family situation and
workcontentfemale,age19‐42
_______________________________________________
I II
_______________________________________________
Meanvaluesforthe 73,12 51,35
comparisongroup
Havingarelativeatsea 2,03 3,16
(comparedtonothavingone)
Beingmarried/partnered ‐4,4 ‐3,06
(comparedtobeingsingle)
Havingchildrenunder18in 8,81 6,59
thehousehold(comparedto*
havingnone)
Catering(comparedtoother‐7,95
‐5,12
departments)**
Importanceofjobcontent(0‐20)‐0.50
Satisfactionwithjobcontent(0‐20)‐1.0
**
Explainedvariance(%)0,915,4
Numberofrespondents134 126
_______________________________________________
Significancelevels:Boldand***=0.001level,**=0.01
level,*=0.05level,boldonly=0.1level.
5 CONCLUDINGDISCUSSION
5.1 Theresults
Theresultsfromthisstudypictureanintricatetrade‐
off in the relationship between different
commitments in life. Contrary to the intuitive
assumption that having children at home would be
negativeoncommitmenttoseafaringoccupation,the
effect was found to be positive and initially
statistically significant for women and close to
significantformen.
Does this finding indicate that the seafaring
occupation in some ways liberates people from the
everyday attempt to solve the life puzzles of work
andhome?Doesthefactthatwomen’soccupational
commitment is more strongly positively affected by
having
young children at home, indicate that the
occupation works as some sort of cooping strategy
forotherwisebeingcaughtinadoubleworkroleat
home? The role of strategies has recently been
highlighted concerning countries where policies
promotingthe dual‐earner families and ‘have‐it‐all”
aspirations(e.g.Grönlund&
Javornik2014).
However, this significantly positive effect from
having children among female seafarers was also
found to be dependent on the level of satisfaction
with the job content. Thus, following the trade‐off
argument,wewouldsaythatonlyifthejobcontent
isagreeable, theseafaringoccupationisappropriate
ascoopingstrategy.Ittakesmoreresearch,however,
to know whether this line of thoughts could offer
validexplanationstoourfindings.
Anotherimportantfamilyeffectwas,asexpected,
the positive effect of having a relative working, or
havingworked,atsea.Thiseffectwashowever,only
significantformaleseafarers
intheagegroupbelow
theearly40s,indicatingthatitistheolderrelatives
that convey and encourage occupational
identification among younger seafarers. The gender
difference can be explained by the male dominant
occupationandthat arelative atseaoften isa man
andthereforeworkbetteras
arolemodelforyoung
menthan forwomen. The significance of this effect
wasnotchangedbycontrolforperceivedjobcontent,
which tells us that the original effect is mainly
emotionally driven and not much influenced by
actualjobcontent.
The results further show that working in the
catering
department comes with a strong negative
effect on commitment to the seafaring occupation,
comparedtoworkinotherdepartments,butonlyso
for women. However, this negative effect lost its
significance after control for job content. This
indicates that the effect of perceived job content on
occupational commitment is much
weaker for
women, without children, working in the catering
departmentthan forthose working inthe deck and
engine departments. This finding may be explained
by that employees in the catering department are,
mostlikely,alsothepeopleontheshipthatareless
dependentontheseafaringoccupationforpracticing
theiroccupationalskills.
A final finding is that the effect of satisfaction
with job content on occupational commitment is
generally important, with the exception of women,
without children, working in the catering
department.Butherewehavetokeepinmind that
thisdoesnotsaythattheyarenot
positivelyaffected
by good job content, it only says that it does not
affecttheircommitmenttotheseafaringoccupation.
On the whole, the results suggest that the trade‐off
between commitments in life is very much a
genderedissue.
5.2 Futureworkandrecommendations
The findings in this study give
rise to further
questions that calls for future research. The main
33
recommendation at this point is that offering
satisfactory job content would definitely help
reducing labour turnover. Particular strategies are
needed to strengthen occupational commitment for
the personnel working in the catering department
andheremoreresearchareneeded.Itisreasonableto
believethatanyeffortsinthatrespectwould
bemet
with reduced turnover, increased job satisfaction,
andthusmostlikelyincreasedcustomersatisfaction
on passenger ships. That would in turn have a
positive effect on overall business performance as
wellasemployeehealthandwellbeing.
As a rule, statistical results can only be
generalizedtothepopulationfrom
whichthesample
isdrawn.Giventhelargedifferencesinworkingand
livingconditionsforseafarersworldwide,aswellas
thediverseinstitutionalandculturalsettingsoftheir
backgrounds,thatruleindeedcountsforthisstudy.
However, this diversity calls for future cross
national comparative research, studying the
correlation of family
situation, job content and
commitment to seafaring life over time. Such an
approach would make it possible to continuously
evaluate the effects of a developing global and
uniformcomplianceandenforcementofinternational
conventions, such as the Maritime Labour
Convention (ILO 2006) and the STCW convention
regarding training, certification and
watch‐keeping
(IMO2011).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We like to thank all the Swedish seafarers who
completed their questionnaires, one anonymous
reviewer, participants at TransNav conference for
helpful comments, and the Swedish Mercantile
MarineFoundationforfundingthedatacollection.
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