Breaking down barriers: The identification of actions to promote gender equality in interdisciplinary marine research institutions

Interdisciplinary research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century. However, women leaders have been underrepresented in interdisciplinary marine research, and there is little guidance on how to achieve the conditions that will lead to an increased proportion of women scientists in positions of leadership. Here, we conduct in-depth qualitative research to explore the main barriers and enablers to women’s leadership in an academic interdisciplinary marine research context. We found that interdisciplinarity can present unique and additional barriers to women leaders (e.g., complexity and lack of value attributed to interdisciplinary research) and are exacerbated by existing gender-specific issues that women experience (e.g., isolation and underrepresentation and stereotyping). Together these barriers overlap forming the “glass obstacle course”—which is particularly challenging for women in minoritized groups. Here, we provide a list of concrete, ambitious, and actionable enablers that can promote and support women’s leadership in academic interdisciplinary marine research. [Display omitted] •Gender equality is a human right and is important for ocean sustainability•Women are less likely than men to be in positions of leadership•Women face non-gendered and gendered challenges working in marine research•A range of strategies can be applied to support women’s leadership Gender equality is a fundamental human right, and it is essential for addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century. Interdisciplinarity is also critical to navigating these challenges, and evidence has shown that women leaders can increase the success of interdisciplinary marine research. However, men are more likely to be in positions of leadership within marine research institutions, indicating that the system has not been designed to adequately support women scientists. Furthermore, interdisciplinarity can present unique and additional challenges to women scientists and may exacerbate the existing gender-specific issues experienced in marine research. We show that women face the challenges of working in academia but also experience additional challenges due to their gender. This is particularly the case for women who belong to minoritized and disadvantaged groups (e.g., due to their ethnicity or nationality). It is important to highlight the challenges that women leaders face. This research has implications for academic marine research