Top tips for running an inclusive scuba diving club

Holborn Sub-Aqua Club share their thoughts on what it takes to become a diverse scuba club.

Holborn Sub-Aqua Club has been a diverse club for decades. We are quite fortunate to have that amazing legacy to build on. 

For us, though, it isn’t simply about gender balance, it’s about a broader approach that focuses on inclusion and also addresses diversity of ethnicity, sexuality and age.

That said, we can’t be complacent and continually look for ways to maintain our gender balance and inclusivity. Here’s a list of things that have worked for our club…

• Encouraging women to be at the forefront of the branch taking on prominent leadership positions – in recent years four of our branch Chairs have been women.
• Ensuring women are represented at the initial contact point for the club – for the last 20 years our try dive and/or membership officers have been women.
• Avoiding stereotyping – for example, we steer clear of the 'girl job/boy job’ trap by encouraging equal access to important club jobs like equipment officer, DO, and boat maintenance.
• Making our inclusivity visible – we ensure women and our broader diversity are evident in club promotional materials, such as the branch website, social media, flyers etc.
• Being inclusive about the many interests that attract people to diving: i.e. we avoid narrow focus on one type of diving (e.g. wrecks) and provide a schedule that encompasses a wide range of interests from biodiversity and maritime history/archaeology, to our ever-popular luxury spa dive weekend.
• Continually growing our next generation of organisers, instructors, and leaders… encouraging all to move through their qualifications and take more responsibility so that skills and decision-making power are equally spread.
• Offering support to those joining from other agencies. We have noticed that resort-based training has better gender representation than is typically seen in BSAC clubs. We avoid ‘PADI-bashing’... instead we offer a supportive induction process into UK diving
• Encouraging non-diving partners to be part of the club activities. This includes social events as well as coming on dive trips with partners, or even their families.
• We celebrate everyone's successes...not just those who shout loudest.
• Holborn encourages and welcomes anyone who wants to dive, and we make it clear that all we want is enthusiasm and commitment to learn to dive. This is supported by a simple clear diversity and inclusion statement.
• We have a robust feedback system and deal with issues quickly and sensitively.
• We aim to have a good mix of instructors to accommodate different learning styles.

The overall ethos of Holborn is one that encourages diversity. We do not believe that detailed policies or procedures can deliver a diverse branch. Instead, we have a simple statement and, above all, a shared consensus in the club on inclusion.

Diversity is important… but meaningless without inclusion. Diving-wise, it is important to create clear boundaries for safety and support all divers in their development. We believe that our inclusive culture is strongly linked to our culture of safe diving. Groups that are not inclusive tend to have low levels of trust, care and respect and this can impact diving safety. Not to mention the impact on retaining members!

An inclusive environment is one where everyone is empowered and encouraged to speak up or contribute. That might be to call-out unsafe behavior, or ask a critical question when unsure instead of remaining silent. It facilitates a culture where members look after each other, rather than one in which competitive or risk-taking behaviors negatively impact safety. Holborn has always avoided an authoritarian approach to its diving, and this in turn attracts even greater diversity. It's just more fun too!

That said, we are not perfect. We have had our challenges around gender diversity. For example we are currently aware that our instructor balance is more towards men than women. It is important to recognise and address these issues. At the moment, for example, we have encouraged more women to attend the Instructor Foundation Course and we will support them through their development to become open water instructors.  Where women have shared negative experiences they’ve had in our branch we’ve taken them seriously.  We have tried to address issues quickly, fairly and with an appropriate level of discretion.