Burcu Uncovers Major Discrepancies in the Percentages of Women Dive Professionals
By Burcu Mahmutoğlu, PADI IDC Staff Instructor, Dive Cypria, Cyprus
REDEFINING LEADERSHIP UNDERWATER Under the surface of our blue planet, leadership matters just as much as buoyancy control. When we talk about women in diving leadership, we are not asking for a quota. We are calling for a transformation. Representation is not a trend. It is safety, belonging, andexcellence. Leadership underwater is not only about who holds the instructor tag. It is about who sets the tone on the boat, who creates the safe space, who reassures the nervous diver, and who designs programs that fit every body, not just one kind.
My Story: When I Was Told “That’s Enough for You.”
After earning my instructor rating, I was told:
- “You should stay in the office, not teach in the water.”
- “If you dive, stay in the confined waters of Green Bay. That is more than enough for you.”
“Your body is ruined now that you have given birth. It ages you ten years and it is irreversible.”
Younger male instructors, some with less experience, were allowed to lead dives I was deemed unfit for. Owners listened to their ideas, even when those ideas were mine.
Of course, I doubted myself. When the people we see as masters tell us we are not enough, the doubt does not stay at the surface. It sinks in.
But I turned it into fuel. I retrained myself, reread dive medicine papers, and studied how diving affects women’s physiology at different life stages. I watched women and men I admired, and one truth surfaced: misogyny might be incurable, but lack of knowledge and skill can be fixed.
So I kept showing up. I kept getting better. Quality became my signature, and when your signature is strong, it becomes impossible to ignore.
The Data Beneath the Surface
The numbers tell the same story across continents: progress, but painfully slow.
Globally, women make up about 39 to 40 percent of recreational divers, yet only 20 percent of instructors hold teaching status (PADI Ten-Year Impact Report, 2025).
In Europe, women represent 37 percent of new certifications but less than 18 percent of professionals, a lower ratio than in Asia or Oceania (PADI Women in Diving Initiative, 2025).
The Girls That Scuba Diversity Survey (2024) found that 44 percent of women divers considered going pro but decided “it was not for them,” citing lack of mentorship, unequal pay, and poorly designed gear.
A Norwegian study in the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Journal (2017) found female professional divers reported more exclusion and fewer promotions despite identical safety and performance records.
The Council of Europe Gender Equality in Sport Report (2023) showed women hold only 14 percent of leadership roles in European sport federations, a pattern mirrored in diving’s instructor hierarchies.
Whether in Norway, Cyprus, or California, the deeper you go into leadership, the fewer women you find.
Why Representation Matters
Representation is not symbolic. It is a safety feature.
Families report greater trust when a female instructor is present during youth scuba programs. Research by the Council of Europe (2023) shows that mixed-gender supervision in sports significantly reduces anxiety among minors and parents.
For solo female travelers, the presence of women in professional roles directly influences booking decisions. PADI’s Business of Women in Diving Report (2024) found that 68 percent of women divers prefer dive centers with at least one female instructor on staff.
Inclusivity is not niche. It is an untapped market.
What Works: Practical Inclusion
Inclusivity in diving does not happen by accident. It takes deliberate decisions and sometimes going against well-meaning advice.
1. Invest in fit and comfort
When I set up my dive center, I decided that comfort and dignity would not be optional. I invested in women-cut wetsuits and carried sizes from 3XS to 4XL, even when others said it was unnecessary.
Three years later, the results speak for themselves. Many of my repeat guests, particularly women who had previously felt excluded from diving because of their body size, now recommend both me and the brands I stock. Plus-size women’s dive communities share these experiences widely.
That kind of endorsement cannot be bought. It came because I chose to be inclusive, not performative. The CBI EU Dive Tourism Report (2023) confirms what I see every day: dive centers that invest in fit and accessibility see 12 to 17 percent higher repeat bookings.
Paid Advertisement
2. Be visible and clear about your values
From the start, every listing and advertisement for Dive Cypria proudly states:
Women-owned. Women-led. LGBTQ+ and trans safe. Neurodivergent friendly. Trauma-informed.
Those words reflect who I am and what I stand for. Some warned that it might deter male clients. It did not. Instead, it attracted first-time divers, repeat guests from abroad, and people who said they chose us because we were authentically different.
When guests tell me why they booked, they often say, “Because you looked like a safe space, and you said it out loud.”
3. Support flexible leadership
Inclusivity also means removing invisible barriers. I introduced paid child-care options for single-parent families, allowing them to train or dive without worry.
The outcome? Families who return year after year. Divers who can focus on their experience knowing their children are safe. A reputation that extends far beyond our coastline.
It brought more revenue and more loyalty than any campaign about “how good our diving is,” because while skills bring people in, safety and belonging bring them back.
4. Train for inclusive communication
Inclusivity is also about how we speak, during briefings, in the classroom, and on the boat. Calm, respectful communication can transform a nervous diver’s experience. Using people’s chosen names, checking comfort before depth, and treating every diver as an equal are not small details.
That is professionalism at its most human, and it is where true safety begins.
A Message to Women in Diving
Keep improving. Keep showing up. You cannot always change bias, but you can become so competent that bias collapses under its own weight.
Never apologize for being a woman. It gives you a unique lens to understand half of humanity. Families, solo divers, and younger students often trust female leadership because it signals empathy and safety.
Every body deserves gear that fits. Every diver deserves to be seen.
A Call to the Industry
To dive center owners, course directors, and training agencies: if you are serious about safety, retention, and growth, you must be serious about diversity.
Inclusive leadership is not a moral luxury. It is operational excellence.
As Divernet reported in 2024, the rise in female participation directly correlates with better diver retention, safety, and community development.
The ocean itself does not discriminate. The industry should not either.
Buoyancy works through balance, our leadership should too.
Final Thoughts
If you are a woman diver doubting your place, trust me, I have been there.
I heard, “That is enough for you.”
I made it not enough for me.
Now, every time I descend, I carry that sentence with me, not as a wound but as ballast turned into buoyancy.
Let us reimagine leadership.
Let us make excellence the standard, inclusion the culture, and representation the norm. The next generation of divers is already watching. Let us show them what leadership looks like when everybody belongs.
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