Women neither want to be stronger nor better. All they want is equality of opportunity

We are going through a period in which the Turkish maritime industry has changed its shell. One of the two issues that has always been mentioned in our sector was to pave the way for young people, and the other was to create equality of opportunity in the certain sector. For this reason, it is obvious that Elif Ceren Gülcek, who was brought to GİSBİR as the Deputy Chairman, is a very important step. In the interview we had with him, we evaluated the sector from his perspective, we got to know him and talked about the change that this task given to him at a young age has created in him and in the sector.

Ms. Elif, let's get to know you first, shall we?

I graduated from Sabancı University Industrial Engineering in 2018. In 2020, I completed my master's degree at Sabancı University again. I guess I am one of the women who are not a shipbuilding engineer in this sector. Why do we choose industrial engineering later in Sabancı? I was torn between industry and mechatronics, but because I thought I could do business in more sectors, I turned to industry. Actually, I read it as production engineering because I always wanted to work in the industry, in the factory. While most of the department wanted to focus on areas such as marketing and sales, which they thought were more comfortable, I always wanted to be in the factory. After graduating from university, I worked in the automotive industry for a year and a half before doing my master's degree. After that, I started working in the shipyard. I have been in the industry for about four years.

You were appointed to an important task at a young age and you became the Deputy Chairman of GISBIR, one of the important building blocks of our industry. What would you like to say about this?

Our esteemed President Murat Kıran always says that he cares about young people everywhere and wants to pave the way for them. It also always supports the creation of equal opportunities for women. We are three women on the GISBIR Board of Directors. Also, as you know, our Secretary General, Ms. Mehtap, has been successfully carrying out her duties for years. Although it does not seem like a very equal distribution, I can say that GISBIR is an institution that really puts women in the foreground. While walking with the ideology of "Let's pave the way for the youth," our president saw me fit for this position and made me the vice president.

Do you think you have taken on a difficult task?

I think you have been given a difficult task. Of course, it is not easy to act as Murat Kıran's deputy, to represent him where he is not. However, on the other hand, I must say that all of our board members supported me a lot. I am only 28 years old and my industry experience is very limited compared to the people I work with, but I am among the well-equipped people.

You said at the very beginning, some of your friends are doing marketing, sales etc. Why did you choose to work in heavy industry such as shipbuilding while you were heading to other fields?

The production sector is already difficult, but the reason why I prefer this field is that when I take part in a production at any point and a product comes out as a result, I know that my labor is involved in that product and this really satisfies me. It makes me think about how I can do better. What we call production is a very open-ended word, everything has a production. After all, I can work anywhere, but of course, my father's share in this sector is big. Shipbuilding is really hard. We need to pay attention to everything at every stage. Even though I have very little experience, I was really surprised when I came here from another industry. The fact that everything is made almost from scratch is a very special case. I was very surprised that it was such a labor-intensive industry. Because in mass production, you usually produce the same thing for years. But here every time a different ship, a different project, a different system, a different equipment… You need to shape everything you do according to the data, equipment and design you have, and you need to be advanced and strong in every sense, both in terms of engineering and the craftsmanship we do in the field. because we are in great competition with the world. 

Since the issue came to your father, are there any other sailors in the family?

Actually, there are no sailors in the family. There was no shipyard before my father. Everything starts with my father. Frankly, I see us more as industrialists rather than the maritime sector.

You are also a member of WISTA Türkiye. How do you evaluate being a woman in the Turkish maritime industry?

Maritime has been a male-dominated sector until now, we cannot deny it, but if I think of myself as an industrial engineer, I studied with many women. In fact, the number of women is increasing in every sector, but there is a noticeable difference in maritime. Even 10 years ago, we might not have seen so many women. Like every WISTA member, I do not believe that there is such a thing as difficult for women. There is no such thing as male jobs, occupations have no gender. Everything that men can do, women can also do, we see success in WISTA women. There are many successful women who have made a name for themselves in this industry. I feel very lucky to have met WISTA, the women here gave me great encouragement. Because by getting to know each other, we are more in solidarity with each other. In fact, women don't want to be stronger or better. Women just want equal opportunity.

Do you think that equal opportunities are provided to women in other NGOs like GISBIR?

At GISBIR, women are really important, especially equality in education. Our president often talks about what we need to do to bring girls into this sector from an early age. We work for equal opportunities in education in order to provide women's employment and contribute to the development of society. WISTA is like a solidarity paradise for me, it has an international network, wherever you are in the world, WISTA embraces you whenever you need it. At the same time, there are women in the Chamber of Shipping, the umbrella organization of maritime, both on the board of directors and in their own working environment. There are also WISTA members in the management and secretariat of KOSDER. I think women both run their own business and try to take an active role in many NGOs.

In the light of all this information, when you look at the shipbuilding industry in general, do you think women employees are adequately supported?

There is still a prejudice against women in the maritime industry. We have to start this work by destroying the prejudices in the first place. Women are supported in NGOs, but every company in the private sector should take a step in this regard. For example, we, as Cemre Shipyard, established a gender equality committee and working group in the company. We have prepared an environment where anyone who wishes can join the working group and express their opinions. We first thought about what we should change, starting with our own company. We are discussing what we should do to create a more egalitarian environment. Our industry is really big, we are very strong and we appeal to a large audience in the society. For this reason, we are developing various projects to start with our own company and spread to the sector and society. We are one of the first signatories of WEPs (United Nations - Women's Empowerment Principles) in the sector and we have written a manifesto that will adopt these principles and announced it to everyone. We advocate the creation of a more egalitarian working environment, the equality of women everywhere, and we believe that social welfare will be possible with gender equality. An egalitarian working environment does not just mean equal pay for equal work. This is already a huge problem all over the world, but I don't think there is such a problem especially in our sector. I don't see anything against gender equality in GISBIR. I can say that the best example of this is my election as vice president. Here is a structure that can be taken as an example. Women are given authority and responsibility regardless of their gender and they work without prejudice.

So, what would you like to say to young people, students who want to choose this field?

When we think of maritime students, we can say that they actually preferred this field in a way. I think they should come and see and travel, they really need to know what to do. They should not believe hearsay. We hear a lot of things every day, such as heavy industry is very dangerous, it needs a lot of labor, but it is very important that those who are done here come and see what the labor costs. Because every job done here is very valuable. It is an indescribable feeling to see the result of the work you have worked for, projects that are pointed out in the world are carried out in Turkey.

Finally, could you share with us the latest status of the projects carried out by GISBIR with the European Union and your thoughts on the representation of Turkey in the international arena by GISBIR?

In the past months, there was a technology-based project that we carried out jointly with the European Union and it was finished. It is currently in active use. We announced it to every shipyard. This valuable project is a program that provides occupational health and safety training online. We opened how many users each shipyard wanted. The program progresses from lesson to lesson, you cannot move on to another without finishing a certain subject, so you really learn. It is currently actively used in many shipyards. We are in contact with all our member shipyards. We even receive reports from shipyards to provide feedback and evaluation. We encourage them to be actively used. This is a very innovative project. Instead of constantly gathering people and telling them face to face, they can also take this training when they want, whenever they want, when they go home. It is obvious that this project also contributed to the digitalization of our industry.

Coming to the second part of your question, GISBIR participates in all fairs in our country and in the world. We are trying to explain the Turkish shipbuilding industry to everyone everywhere. Apart from that, we have international memberships of Waterborne TP, Sea Europe and ASEF. We also do representation abroad. Although Turkey is not a member of the European Union, we represent Turkey at Sea Europe and express our opinions. Our Ministry also wants representatives from us in cases related to the sector, I went to the headquarters of IMO in London twice in the past months. One of the main aims of this association is to introduce the world how developed the shipbuilding industry in Turkey is.

TURK MARINEWS