Origins of Ocean Womxn

What is it like to step onto a boat for the first time? How do you handle feeling seasick in front of your peers? What’s it like to be on the water when you don’t know how to swim?

How does all that feel when you’re a black womxn?

In South Africa, oceanography provides an exciting and impactful field of opportunity. With access to the Benguela upswelling system, the Agulhas Current and the Southern Ocean, students can study unique marine systems and access remote research points.

With a global emphasis on addressing climate change, there are clear opportunities for South Africans to conduct world-class oceanographic research. And the University of Cape Town (UCT) supports this by offering the only postgraduate degrees in oceanography in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We want our programme to facilitate change in the department of oceanography at UCT and for the studies in South Africa to be more inclusive. ”

Yet, South African early career scientists in the discipline are part of a small and homogenous pool. At UCT, 57% of postgraduates at the Department of Oceanography are womxn – but there are only 12 Black African and Coloured South African womxn out of 73 students.

“We wanted to transform the UCT oceanography department by supporting black womxn in ways that enable them to achieve sustained excellence in oceanographic research,” says Katye Altieri, lecturer at the Department of Oceanography at UCT.

When UCT vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng announced the Advancing Womxn initiative, a series of grants awarded to projects that make space for womxn researchers’ voices to be heard, Altieri saw an opportunity to begin that transformation.

“We saw this as an opportunity to create a dedicated programme that offers field work preparation, mentorship and support for black womxn so they can become future leaders of oceanography in South Africa and the global south,” she says.

Part of a community

Research has highlighted several reasons for insufficient transformation in higher education in South Africa, including financial barriers and lack of mentorship. But Altieri recognised that the field-based nature of oceanography also posed challenges.

“Some students have a background of seaside holidays or boating trips, and some can even scuba dive,” she says. “That can prepare you for the field components of oceanography, but we can’t expect all students to come into the discipline with those experiences, and having access to them shouldn’t determine whether you’re successful in the field.”

It’s not just about being able to boat or swim, either. Knowing what to wear when spending the day on the water, how to protect yourself with proper sunscreen and sunglasses, and what to do when you get seasick comes into it.

“If a black womxn is on board with a team and hasn’t had these prior experiences, it may make her feel othered,” says Altieri. “The Ocean Womxn programme is designed to overcome that and help womxn feel more comfortable as part of the oceanography community.”

Womxn for womxn

Altieri pitched her idea to the two other womxn in the UCT oceanography department, Sarah Fawcett and Isabelle Ansorge, and they joined forces. They soon roped in UCT affiliate, Juliet Hermes, from the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON).

“We worked hard to identify distinct ways we could make this a prestigious programme that would attract well-trained womxn master’s and PhD students who wanted to pursue careers in oceanography,” says Altieri.

These were four white womxn who’d overcome their own barriers to successful careers in oceanography, but they were missing the input of a black womxn ocean scientist.

“Having a black female on the project would have been great, but there aren’t any black womxn in oceanography in leadership positions at UCT,” says Altieri.

Indeed, the academic staff at the department of oceanography is made up of an impressive 50% womxn, but it is also 100% white.

As if highlighting the urgency of the project, Altieri says they are hopeful that womxn from their cohorts can one day fill that gap.

Ocean womxn

If the inaugural cohort of Ocean Womxn is anything to go by, Altieri may be right. They are five extraordinary womxn whose science is noteworthy and whose passion forms the perfect foundation for the programme.

“This cohort is an impressive group of womxn as individuals, but when all five are together there is an immediate energy about them. You can tell they are all going places,” says Altieri.

As Ocean Womxn they receive a full package of support including financial cover for the duration of the degree, relocation costs, field gear budget and a laptop.

The womxn also get training at sea, including the option of swimming, boating and scuba lessons, along with lab skills and hands-on experience aboard the SEAmester cruises.

“We wanted to make sure that this was a good value bursary and that students were given everything they needed to feel on equal footing and focus on their postgraduate studies,” says Altieri.

Building momentum

One year on, attention around Ocean Womxn is growing and applications are open for the next cohort. But Altieri says there is also a pervading fear: fear of doing something wrong, of being patronising, of not giving the right support.

“We’re a year in and still terrified we’re doing it wrong,” she says. But that fear won’t stop them from building momentum as the need for transformation is paramount.

“We want our programme to facilitate change in the department of oceanography at UCT and for the studies in South Africa to be a more inclusive space. We haven’t done that yet,” she says.

“We don’t want to bring these womxn into a space where they can’t succeed and thrive, and there is still a lot more work to be done.”