Gender Diversity in the Logistics Industry

The challenge of gender diversity in the logistics industry is a decades-long problem that can be solved only by understanding the source of the problem.

The empowerment of women is a powerful concept that is being implemented in most regions across the world. While the majority of workspaces used to be male-dominated, now women are taking part in them as well. Unlike before, there is far less disparity in wages or facilities.

However, it is seen that women usually don’t apply for posts in the logistics sectors. In fact, it is usually seen that they don’t apply for any post in this sector at all.

While many people think that there is some kind of disparity here that is causing this to happen, the truth is that most women don’t apply for these posts because they think that they aren’t suitable for these job titles.

But is this really true? We’ll find out in this article.

Is the Logistics Sector Only for Men?

When picking an operations role, what most people look for is a good work environment that will suit their needs. Now, there is a common misconception that the job titles of the logistics sector are designed for men especially.

And this is because as the entire sector is mostly men-dominated, the work environment is better for them. However, that is not the case. Even if it were, this is no reason to stay out of the sector at all. 

For a leader, your work environment will be exactly what you want it to be. Even if you are in a post where your job is coordinating with others, the environment does matter, but not so much for you to avoid that sector altogether.

The presence of female workers in the logistics sector is growing because the number of women who like to challenge themselves is increasing. Then again, due to the increasing use of the TMS software, the workload is becoming lighter. Unless you challenge yourself, you won’t be able to find out whether you are cut out for the logistics sector or not.

If women keep on taking up roles in the logistics sector, there will come a time that this sector will be men-dominated no longer. However, the initial steps will be hard to take. 

Gender Diversity in Logistics

From the report Women in Workplace 2019, we can see that the higher you climb up the ladder of an organization, the thinner the presence of the female workforce gets. This indicates that women are still failing to break through the glass ceiling. 

Then again, the presence of women is found more in some sectors than the others. For example, we can see a higher number of female executives in HR, Communication, legal, or marketing than other sectors of logistics. 

By this, we can understand why the present situation persists. Most of the aforementioned sectors later merge with the management sector. As most of the women end up being promoted to the management sector, there is a lesser opportunity for them to rise to a leading role. 

Then again, why don’t women usually apply for other departments of the logistics sector? As you can see, the logistics sector is still characterized heavily by heavy physical work, long work hours, inconvenient work time frames, etc. However, the situation has changed to a great degree, and in fact, none of these are applicable for the leadership roles of the logistics sector. 

So, unless the majority of us break out of this common misunderstanding, then women empowerment in the logistics sector won’t be possible. 

Moreover, we need individuals who would be willing to take up such a challenge. Even though most operational roles are characterized to be masculine, in reality, there’s no gender of a certain role. If a woman wants, she’ll be able to fit right into a role as well as a mostly male-dominated sector. 

What’s more, is that every woman must acknowledge that logistics is a great sector to get into right now. Due to the growing e-commerce sector, infrastructures, and changes in the market change, the logistics sector has more demand now than ever. 

Plus, the gender disparity in this sector is reducing slowly, and it won’t be long before it’s completely balanced. So, now would be a great time to hop onto the logistics sector and take it up as a profession.

What Must be Done to Increase Gender Diversity?

There are two major things that we must change, and these are knowledge and perception. While these are interconnected, you’ll have to change both if you want to succeed. 

The first issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of knowledge in the logistics sector. People don’t know much about the logistics sector now, and there are a lot of myths surrounding this sector. Unless these myths are busted, people won’t have a clear idea about the logistics sector as a whole.

Then again, there’s this general misunderstanding that the logistics sector is suitable for men only. However, this isn’t true at all. There are a lot of women who would be willing to take up any task that involves heavy physical work. Other than that, there are a lot of operational and leadership roles in this industry, which women can take up with some effort.

The second issue that must be addressed is the entire perception of ours. When talking about logistics and transportation, most of us think that they are for men only. This very perception destroys the willpower of women to apply for these job titles. Unless this mentality is changed as a whole, we won’t be able to increase women’s engagement in this sector.

Both of these issues can be changed by the people, but the companies can contribute as well. For example, if the companies sponsor programs that will educate the common people, then the engagement rate will increase. 

The goal of these programs should be to enlighten people about how the logistics sector really works. If the women are informed, then they’ll have more interest in applying for job titles in the logistics sector. 

Plus, most people still think that the operational roles in the logistics sector involve hard work because they don’t even know the wonders the TMS software can do. They can be educated about the TMS software too.

Conclusion: Gender diversity in the logistics sector

Gender disparity is a great issue that is keeping logistics companies from creating a rich and talented labor pool. Unless the mass is educated about this sector, then we won’t see an increase of women engagement in this sector.