Breaking the Granite Ceiling: Women in the Outdoors
It's no secret. The outdoor industry has room to improve in the area of gender diversity. Whether it’s offering up more diverse color options for women’s-specific gear, hiring more females into influential roles, or simply refraining from making assumptions about skill level based on gender, there’s plenty to be done.
However, plenty of progress has already been made as well.
Sitting in a room full of outdoorswomen at an Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition networking event this past winter, a distinct feeling permeated everything from group discussions to talks given by industry leaders. The feeling wasn’t frustration, nor was it doubt or defeat.
It was empowerment.
We are pursuing the outdoors during a time when women are empowered to establish their voices and create change within a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Who is giving us that power? We are giving it to ourselves.
Over the past several years, well-known athletes, professional leaders, and outdoor enthusiasts alike have banded together to form groups of all kinds with the goal of achieving greater gender diversity in the outdoors.
Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition, for example, makes it their mission to support gender equality, respect, and inclusion at every level in the workplace throughout the industry. Women looking to further their careers in the outdoors will find ample resources at their fingertips including networking events, job boards, and mentorship programs. OIWC even puts on an annual “Pitchfest” where women entrepreneurs showcase their businesses and ideas to some of the industry’s most influential CEO’s.
Then there are groups such as Outdoor Women’s Alliance. Equal parts media collective and grassroots group, OWA is the place to go for inspiration and community within the outdoor world. With teams in six locations across the United States and Canada, there are opportunities to get involved most anywhere you live. Women can join their area’s OWA Facebook group to connect with fellow adventurers and trade tips on local hikes, climbs, trails, and more.
Ever opened an outdoor magazine and noticed that the content skewed heavily towards the male gender? No? Then you probably haven’t ever opened an outdoor magazine…
Outdoor media has historically been prime breeding ground for gender inequality. The crew behind Misadventures Magazine has set out to change this. The goal of their media-venture is simple: to bring quality outdoor and adventure content about women to those who are hungry for it. Misadventures even keeps tabs on how other publications are progressing (or not) in the area of gender diversity. Their annual “Gender Representation in Outdoor Industry Magazines” report looks at representation of women across bylines, staff, and imagery for most major outdoor media outlets.
Of course, the list doesn’t end here. While women-focused organizations are key catalysts for change, major brands and media outlets from Burton to Backpacker are leading the charge towards gender diversity across the industry as a whole. When you look at the outdoor industry landscape and how it is progressing, it’s impossible not to feel hopeful.
Over the next few months, we’ll be taking a look at the state of gender diversity in the outdoors through the lens of some of the raddest athletes we know; women within our community who continue to break the granite ceiling one climb, hike, ride, and paddle at a time.
