Ocean research and conservation are still largely exclusive fields, with ongoing issues of racial, gender, class, and geographic underrepresentation. To improve accessibility and retention within these fields, we need to create equitable, just, and welcoming study and work environments. It is therefore crucial to listen to the voices of students and early career ocean professionals (ECOP). We conducted an online survey on the study- and workplace experiences of ECOP, focusing on social obstacles, such as economic strain, unpaid work, and workplace discrimination and abuse. Strong economic barriers to education access were evident in certain geographic areas. Almost half of the reported work time in the field was uncompensated, yet unpaid work rarely translated into career advancement and was often associated with workplace abuse. Dissatisfaction and burn-out rates at the earliest career stages were alarming, and experienced hardship and mental health issues were particularly dire for women and non-binary persons. While most respondents were white and from the global north, meaning the results may not reflect experiences of ECOP in other regions, this study highlights some of the barriers to equity as well as work ethics issues that should be urgently addressed within the field.

海洋研究和保护在很大程度上仍然是排他性的领域，种族、性别、阶级和地理代表性不足的问题持续存在。为了提高这些领域的可访问性和保留率，我们需要创造公平、公正和受欢迎的学习和工作环境。因此，倾听学生和早期职业海洋专业人士 (ECOP) 的声音至关重要。我们对 ECOP 的学习和工作经历进行了在线调查，重点关注社会障碍，例如经济压力、无偿工作以及工作场所的歧视和虐待。在某些地理区域，受教育机会存在巨大的经济障碍。据报道，该领域几乎有一半的工作时间是无偿的，但无偿工作很少转化为职业发展，而且往往与工作场所的虐待有关。职业生涯早期阶段的不满和倦怠率令人担忧，经历过的困难和心理健康问题对女性和非二元性人士来说尤其可怕。虽然大多数受访者是来自全球北方的白人，这意味着结果可能无法反映其他地区的 ECOP 经验，但本研究强调了一些公平的障碍以及应该在该领域紧急解决的职业道德问题。