Gender divide?

[k8chen]

In my limited experience (only 25 dives) it seems like there are WAY more men than women who dive. Are there any statistics to support this? I'm a hopelessly addicted female diver and my husband will go with me but isn't so into it. Am I unusual?

 

[Doc]

I'm sure DEMA has those numbers, probably PADI, but trust your observations. You are in a distinct minority.

Google search: PADI has shown that women represent 39% of Open Water Certifications in their Asian market. This seems to be a well accepted international figure. The older individuals who were surveyed tended to skew much more so to an even greater % of male respondents.

 

[Sas]

In my limited experience (only 25 dives) it seems like there are WAY more men than women who dive. Are there any statistics to support this? I'm a hopelessly addicted female diver and my husband will go with me but isn't so into it. Am I unusual?

Yep, it's very male dominated in my experience. I don't have that many female buddies and even fewer when it goes beyond basic diving.

My partner doesn't dive, no interest at all nor in going to diving holidays... but not jealous at all luckily so I just go away with male buddies for diving holidays.

 

[TSandM]

We have a fair number of women who dive in the PNW, maybe as many as the 33% that's often quoted, but once you get into more advanced diving or technical diving, the number absolutely plummets.

I know very few women, though, who are avid divers when their spouse/SO is not. I'm a bit more active a diver than my husband, but he teaches, which makes up for it. We both tech and cave dive, though.

 

[Sas]

We have a fair number of women who dive in the PNW, maybe as many as the 33% that's often quoted, but once you get into more advanced diving or technical diving, the number absolutely plummets.

Yea I have really started to notice that myself. There are a few exceptions of course, but in general it is men who do the advanced/technical diving. I'd be interested to see the gender percentages in technical courses.

And another thing I just thought of, there seems to be even fewer female divers over winter..

I know very few women, though, who are avid divers when their spouse/SO is not. I'm a bit more active a diver than my husband, but he teaches, which makes up for it. We both tech and cave dive, though.

That's a good point. The female divers I know are either single or have a SO that dives, with very few exeptions (like me! Though I did meet a woman last night whose husband did not dive, very rare). I don't know why exactly. I have had many friends tell me that they would not allow their girlfriends/wives go and dive by themselves very often... because it is mostly men that they'll end up diving with!

 

[Crush]

In DAN's Annual Diving Report 2008 Edition the breakdown of volunteers who chose to participate in Project Dive Exploration in 2006 was 63% male, 37% female. From my personal experience I believe that in this case the women may have been more generous with their time than the men since I frequently see a male-to-female ratio of 4:1 in our frigid waters.

 

[Cathy Church]

Dear K8chen: Where are you from? Among our visitors in my photo center in the Cayman Islands there is a large percentage of avid women divers. There is a Women Diver's Hall of Fame with currently 146 highly skilled, avid divers. There are women dive clubs and several all women groups on the internet. Many have non-diving husbands. Among the divers on my next trip to Indonesia, over half are women and they are all avid divers, some single, some with their husbands, and some whose husbands remain at home. You are not unusual, but also don't be shy about diving with the guys. What is most important is that you find the type of buddy who likes the same style of diving--i.e. do you like to cover the whole site or do you like to stop and search a small area more thoroughly, etc.

Have fun.

 

[kanonfodr]

I think that observation goes for any physical activity, and life in general IME. I only know 2 female motorcyclists (who actually ride, not just sit on the back of the bike), and when I am riding around I will see 15-20 males to 1 female rider. Same thing with paintball, hiking, 4 wheeling, and geocaching. The ratios do vary between them, however.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was due in some part to cultural influence, especially in my generation. Most females I know are more interested in going to the club and getting their groove on, partying, or just staying indoors vs. getting out, getting dirty, and having some real fun.

That being said, Japan I swear has almost no male divers. There's a company here on Oahu that caters to the japanese tourist crowd, and every time their bus pulls up to a dive site about 8-9 japanese women jump out, and no dudes. Except maybe the instructor. My OW instructor said that most of the divers in Japan are female, but I don't know about the grounds for his statement.

Peace,
Greg

 

[Divor]

What does gender have to do with diving?

 

[Doc Harry]

Males dominate in all sports. I believe it's because of social up-bringing and social expectations.

Just like women dominate in knitting. It is an activity that nothing to do with gender, but it's taught socially only to women.