On the eve of International Women’s Day 2019, let’s take some time to celebrate women in scuba diving. Let’s also think about what we can all do as divers to work towards a more diverse and inclusive sport.
We have a little good news - the number of women in BSAC has grown in the last 12 months. Not a lot, but we had 206 more female members at the end of February 2019 compared to the end of February 2018. This is, of course, a small change and overall 27% of BSAC's membership is female, but it's still something to celebrate.
Women in sport and clubs
Research undertaken in both sport and business makes a compelling case for improving gender diversity. Having more women members can deliver many tangible benefits for clubs, such as giving them wider potential to recruit further members (enabling them to be more easily sustainable) and reducing in-club conflict.
Support for clubs wanting to grow female membership
Gender equality in sport
Gender equality is still high on the public agenda of course. And in the context of sport, although the Sport England ‘This Girl Can’ campaign did deliver results (2.8 million women did some or more activity as a result), their work is not done as a gender gap of 1.73 million fewer women playing sport compared to men, remains in England.
According to Sport England, in order to grow a more diverse club, it’s important to recognise the different motivations and barriers to women when it comes to taking part in sport. Research shows there are a mix of practical and emotional pressures that stop many women from being as active as they would like - fear of judgement, lacking confidence and not having enough time to name a few.
BSAC want to encourage more women into scuba diving
For BSAC, around three times as many men take part in our sport than women. We’d like to encourage more women to take part. If you’re in a club and would like more female members, please check out the Women in BSAC online support section for clubs, which includes:
- Benefits of a diverse club
- Understand the barriers women face
- Tips to promote your club to women
- Practical tips for the first club visit
- Keeping women in your club
Other (external) resources:
- Club Matters website: ‘Women and your club’
- Sport England website: Helping women and girls get active
Thinking about learning to dive, or already a qualified diver?
Send your postcode to hello@bsac.com and we'll help you to find the right club for you. Or if you fancy a chat call us 0151 350 6226 (Mon - Fri, 9 - 5:30).
Author: Debbie Powell | Posted 07 Mar 2019
