Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities - Divers Alert ...

Figure 69 illustrates the certification level by gender of divers in thedata set. In the 2001 sample a slightly higher percentage of thewomen were students and open water divers.Approximately one quarter of all sampled divers had entry-levelcertification, one quarter had advanced categories, and anotherquarter was made up of instructors and divemasters. Students comprised7 percent, and 5 percent were certified cave or technicaldivers. Women made up 43 percent of all students and 30 percent ofthe group with entry-level certification in our sample. The participationof women declined from an overall percentage of 26 percentto 20 percent in the divemaster, and 23 percent in the instructor categories(graphs for above narrative not shown).Fig 69Certification ofdivers by gender.% of PDE Divers35302520151050StudentOpen WaterAdvanced Open Water/ SpecialtyRescue DiverDivemasterInstructorCave / TechnicalScientificFemales (N = 341)Males (N=934)CommercialMilitaryThe number of years since a diver was first certified may be used asa proxy for diving experience (Figure 70). Forty-five percent of thesampled divers had 5 years of experience or less, and 25 percent had10 years of experience or greater. Men were better represented incategories with more years since initial training, a pattern similar tothat seen in certification level.Fig 70Number ofyears sincediver was firstcertified.% of PDE Divers353025201510Females (N=341)Males (N=957)501 2 3 4 5 6-10 >10Years Since Certification70DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2003 Edition