TOWARDS A TOTAL OCCUPATION: A STUDY OF UK MERCHANT NAVY OFFICER CADETSHIP by Elizabeth Alison Gould This thesis is submitted in candidature for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2010 Cardiff School of Social Sciences Cardiff University UMI Number: U585412 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U585412 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed (candidate) Date kx, 20 IO STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed (candidate) Date . 2«$>< ^ vv\lo tv 2 O I 0 STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. Signed (candidate) Date .. STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (candidate) D ate. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to offer my most sincere thanks: - To the cadets who trusted me with their experiences of cadetship - - To my Supervisors, Professor Mick Bloor, Dr Michelle Thomas (from October 2001 - April 2005), and Professor Helen Sampson (from April 2005 onwards), for accepting me as their student, and for their most generous support and guidance on this extended journey - - To my husband and family, whose unwavering support, patience, and good humour have kept me going - - To Mrs Fiona Peel, who as Chair of the Gwent Health Authority initially supported these studies, and who has continued to provide every encouragement - - To the late Dr David Bainton without whom this particular study door might not have opened - - To friends and colleagues, whose encouragement I have individually acknowledged - - To friends and staff at the Seafarers International Research Centre for their help and encouragement - - To staff in the shipping and training companies and the educational institutions, whose administrative assistance I have appreciated - - To both the Seafarers International Research Centre and Professor Bloor for generously meeting the fieldwork costs - This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Dorcas and the late Tom Richards who supported my studies with such interest and enthusiasm, and who wanted so much to see the thesis completed. ABSTRACT This thesis presents a study of UK Merchant Navy Officer cadetship. The study was conceived in the context of both a declining UK shipping fleet and seafaring workforce, and prompted by the lack of research on the experiences of UK seafarer officer cadets. The initial purpose of the study was to understand the experiences in training of Merchant Navy Officer cadets through their own voices. The need to understand the impact of recent UK Government policy initiatives connected to Merchant Navy cadetship became a further motivation. As data collection and analysis progressed, interviewee and questionnaire data on the cadet experience were combined with three further data-strands using a mixed methods approach. The reflexive methodology permitted the interactive linking and patterning of the data-strands, realised in the narrative representation of cadetship. Two further research outputs are: a concise set of descriptors of the experience of seafarer officer cadets; and, the construct of 'total occupation' used as a generic window through which to (re)view cadetship and seafaring. The study found that for most cadets entry into training was a positive process in which they saw the Merchant Navy as having specific attractions. Their ship-board experiences varied with each unique combination of voyage, ship, officers, and crew. For some cadets, the overall experience of training was rewarding. However there were others who had experiences of distress; some of those went on to resign from training, and suffered a sense of failure and disappointment. All cadets interviewed in the study displayed ambivalence in varying degrees towards aspects of the seafaring experience, notably its 'totalness'. The study findings suggest that structural determinants of the cadet experience were open to individual agency in which a sense of calling and tradition were factors. iv LIST OF CONTENTS Chapter Page (section) Title Page i Declaration ii Acknowledgments iii Abstract iv List of Contents v List of Tables xiii List of Charts xiii List of Textboxes xiii List of Appendices xiv Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Methodology 7 (2.1) OVERVIEW OF METHODOLOGY 10 The Study: Definition, Methodological Influences and Approach 10 Definition 10 Methodological influences 10 The methodological approach 13 qualitative and reflexive orientation 13 application of modified Grounded Theory 14 emergent design 15 use of mixed methods 16 rigour 17 - Phase One 18 - Phase Two 18 - Phase Three 19 v (2.2) DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND METHODS 20 Overview 20 A personal perspective 23 Phase One: Setting Out, Gathering Data and Beginning the Analysis ^ Choosing the direction of travel 25 Initial thoughts on design 26 Negotiating access 27 The pilot 28 the pilot interviews 28 the group interview 30 The development of three further data strands 31 Ethical considerations 32 Sample characteristics, representativeness and bias 33 The questionnaires 36 The main interviews 38 Developing the analysis 41 Phase Two: Further Analysis, Integration and Representation Overview 45 Further analysis and data integration 46 The glamour of seafaring: illustrating the analytical processes 49 exploring and familiarizing: pilot data 50 forming: questionnaires and main interviews 51 refining: material from other data-strands 52 integrating: no linking or patterning for glamour across „ all data strands accounting: evaluation and narration 53 A reflection on representation 55 Phase Three: 50 Constructing a Window on Cadetship (2.3) CHAPTER CONCLUSION 61 vi Chapter 3 Study Materials (3.1) INTRODUCTION 66 Chapter Structure 66 (3.2) THE UK MERCHANT NAVY - CONTEXTUALISING AN OCCUPATION 67 Notes towards a Definition of Occupation 67 The UK Shipping Industry & Related UK Government Policies 69 The UK merchant fleet 69 The UK seafarer workforce 72 cadet numbers 74 UK Government Shipping Policy from 1970 76 The Tonnage Tax 79 The Minimum Training Obligation (MTO) 79 assessments of the impact of the Tonnage Tax 80 UK Merchant Navy Officer Training 84 Training programmes 84 Admission to training 85 The college component 86 Planned training at sea 87 Attrition from training 88 (3.3) RESEARCH LITERATURES - CRITICALLY INFORMING ANALYSIS 89 The Approach taken to Literature Review: Overview and Origins 89 Introducing the Literatures 91 Chapter Two: methodology 91 Chapter Three: the study materials 92 Chapter Four: youth transition / occupational choice / 'calling' / rites of passage Chapter Five: the total institution / occupational socialization / initiation / gender Chapter Six: apprenticeship / workplace learning / communities of practice / professionalization Chapter Seven: life transitions / lifetime careers / work uncertainty / ambivalence vii SELECTED WRITINGS OF J.CONRAD - ILLUMINATING THE NARRATIVE 94 Joseph Conrad: 'A Unique and Happy Union of Seaman & Writer' 94 Why Conrad? Quality, Content and Form 96 The Sample 99 THE STUDY MATERIALS IN USE 102 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 103 A Life at Sea: Origins, Attractions and Expectations INTRODUCTION 108 Chapter Structure 111 ORIGINS 112 A Relationship with the Sea 112 In the Blood: Seafaring as Family Tradition 119 ATTRACTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS 123 Objective Career Attractions 125 Good pay 125 Skills transferability 127 Subjective Interests: Opportunities to Experience Difference 129 Seeing the world 129 Meeting people from many different backgrounds 132 Leaving behind worries of everyday life 133 Separateness: A Consequence of Difference 135 SEAFARING AS A CALLING: CURRENT PERSPECTIVES 136 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 139 The Importance of the Sea Environment: A Love of the Sea 140 Links to Family Tradition 141 The Importance of Difference 141 A Sense of Calling 141 Hints of Ambivalence 142 viii Life at Sea: The Fellowship of the Craft INTRODUCTION 146 Envisaging Shipboard Life 146 Chapter Structure 148 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 149 Unfamiliarity 149 Inescapability 152 The Total Institution 155 DEVELOPING THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS 158 Negotiating Relationships 159 Initiation and Rites of Passage 165 Bullying or binging? 170 Stories of despair 172 mental health and wellbeing - a note 177 Odd Woman Out 177 Fellowship 183 Peer support 186 Officers: managers or mates? 188 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 191 An Occupation Set Apart 191 The Total Character of the Shipboard Experience 192 A Traditional Occupational Culture 192 Fellowship and Isolation 194 Life at Sea: Learning the Ropes INTRODUCTION 197 The Ship as a Site of Workplace Learning 197 Chapter Structure 198 WORKPLACE LEARNING 199