The lack of highly-trained ocean science professionals constrains sustainable development and management of the oceans. In Kenya, the government is committed to improving access to education for all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, and social status. Increasing female student enrolment has been one of the top priorities, particularly in science-related courses, which have long been male-biased. Feminist political ecology is applied as an analytical framework to understand how gender and ethnicity influence student access to, participation in, and experience in ocean science-related programmes. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey with students undertaking ocean science courses in seven public universities in Kenya. The findings revealed an underrepresentation of women and minority ethnic groups. Fewer female respondents than males received financial support from their families, and more female respondents than males reported that they had experienced discrimination related to their ethnicity and gender. In addition, a higher percentage of female respondents reported having fewer opportunities in higher education and ocean science careers than males. These findings reveal the persistent inequalities among students and suggest that Kenyan public universities need to pay more attention to how intersectional identities, such as gender and ethnicity, influence and shape the distribution of resources and opportunities if equitable diversity and inclusion are to be achieved. Also, they need to strengthen their gender policies and actions to tackle these social inequalities to promote gender equality in ocean science education.

缺乏训练有素的海洋科学专业人员限制了海洋的可持续发展和管理。在肯尼亚，政府致力于改善所有人接受教育的机会，无论性别、种族和社会地位如何。增加女学生入学率一直是首要任务之一，特别是在长期以来偏向男性的科学相关课程中。女权主义政治生态学被用作分析框架，以了解性别和种族如何影响学生获得、参与和体验海洋科学相关项目。数据是通过对肯尼亚七所公立大学学习海洋科学课程的学生进行问卷调查收集的。调查结果显示，妇女和少数民族群体的代表性不足。获得家庭经济支持的女性受访者人数少于男性受访者，而表示遭受过与种族和性别有关的歧视的女性受访者多于男性。此外，较高比例的女性受访者表示，与男性相比，接受高等教育和海洋科学职业的机会较少。这些发现揭示了学生之间持续存在的不平等，并表明肯尼亚公立大学需要更多地关注性别和种族等交叉身份如何影响和塑造资源和机会的分配，以实现公平的多样性和包容性。此外，他们需要加强性别政策和行动，以解决这些社会不平等问题，以促进海洋科学教育中的性别平等。