L. Edirisinghe<\/b><\/p>\n Cinec Martime Campus<\/i><\/p>\n \n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section> Abstract<\/b><\/p>\n Maritime Education and Training (MET) are presently faced with many\u00a0challenges thus sustaining a pool of qualified and competent marine officers\u00a0<\/span>and engineers is a serious issue. Given the very complicated nature of the\u00a0<\/span>industry certain grades of seafarers are waiting to be deployed while some\u00a0<\/span>categories are invariably short staffed. MET institutes compete with other\u00a0<\/span>higher education institutes while improving the overall quality standards of\u00a0<\/span>global MET. Also, the demand for seafaring by younger generation is seen\u00a0<\/span>declined while the quality of limited applicants also deteriorated. As a result,\u00a0<\/span>leading MET institutes are pressurised to be flexible in selection criteria.\u00a0<\/span>Accordingly, the objective of this study is to identify the factors that influence\u00a0<\/span>students\u2019 choice of maritime education. The study has been conducted by\u00a0<\/span>obtaining empirical data from past and present seafarers and the findings may\u00a0<\/span>be helpful for MET institutes. It explored key factors pertaining to the seafarers\u2019\u00a0<\/span>profession such as the professional identity and perception; social impact; the\u00a0<\/span>family concerns; and gender issues as influencing the choice of maritime\u00a0<\/span>education.<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section> Keywords<\/b><\/p>\n Maritime education; seafarers\u2019 profession; challenges for seafarers; higher\u00a0education<\/span><\/p>\n \n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>