Written by Emily Bowie
Data from Emily Bowie & Oonagh Thin
Just like the majority of the world’s population as of late, I’ve been trying to find ways to fill in time. The Coronavirus-related lockdown measures, that have been in place across many countries since March, have rudely cancelled all my social engagements and prior life plans. For the first few weeks I was able to throw myself into finally finishing off my last few pieces of university coursework. Surprisingly enough, when you are forced to do nothing except uni work for a length of time, with no social distractions, it doesn’t take long to get it all completed. Degree = done! I then threw myself into baking banana bread (if I ever mash another banana again, I’m going to scream), getting back into running (got super over-excited and ruined the tendons in my feet from overuse) and attempting to take up yoga (turns out the only pose I’m even vaguely competent at is Shavasana). And so it was on a rainy day in May, with crippled feet and a gloomy sense of boredom, that my friend suggested we create a survey, in which we ask the members of our Scottish university mountaineering club about their experiences of the club and wider mountaineering community, looking particularly at gender differences and sexism. Over the past year, myself and my group of girlfriends have spent countless evenings tucked up on each other’s sofas, cup of tea in hand, as we passionately discuss the barriers women face to achieve in male-dominated fields such as outdoor sport and STEM subjects. We had the sneaky suspicion that we weren’t the only women involved in outdoor sports who have noticed gender differences within the community. We decided to create a survey so we could determine whether there are differences in the experiences of men and women within the club, and to gain an insight into the member’s experiences of gender and discrimination. The final analysis contained responses from twenty-eight women and sixteen men. As I’m sure many women who are involved in outdoor sports will have noticed, there appears to be a tendency in the outdoor community for men to display much higher levels of confidence in their abilities and competencies than women do. This is a phenomenon called the Confidence Gap, which was investigated by researchers at Cornell University. The researchers found that men systematically overestimate their abilities and performance, while women underestimate both of these. In reality, there was no differences in their abilities. An internal report by Hewlett Packard, a multinational information technology company, found that men will apply for a job or promotion when they meet just 60% of the qualifications required, whereas women only apply if they meet 100% of the qualifications. This means that women are losing out on opportunities due to a lack of confidence in their abilities. I wanted to investigate whether the Confidence Gap translated into a subjective, private self-rating of mountaineering ability. The participants gave a score from 0 to 100, with 0 meaning they have zero confidence in their mountaineering abilities and 100 meaning absolute confidence.
The mean female score was 54.8 whereas the mean male score was 62.6, a difference of 7.8 points. This difference is not statistically significant. This suggests that when it comes down to subjectively rating self-confidence in their mountaineering abilities, there actually isn’t a significant gender difference in the ratings given. This implies that, subjectively, men are not more likely to have higher confidence in their mountaineering ability than women. The displays of confidence we witness in male mountaineers may be an example of the Confidence Gap in action: whilst there are no real gender differences in perceived mountaineering ability, men may tend to display more confidence in their abilities than women when in social situations. This has the knock-on effect of meaning that men are more likely to gain opportunities and develop their mountaineering skills.
The survey statistics suggest that just under 50% of women have had their confidence knocked due to sexism within the mountaineering community, compared to 25% of men. This means that a huge proportion of women in mountaineering are forced to overcome additional mental barriers as they engage in and progress in their sport. In the women’s answers, it becomes apparent that the majority of women are aware of sexist undertones within the mountaineering community. A key theme from these answers is mansplaining. That wonderful word that most women are oh-so familiar with. Female respondents note the tendency for male mountaineers to presume that they are less experienced and familiar with gear, climbs and mountaineering in general, despite the fact that the woman may have far more experience and knowledge than the male in question. One female observes that, on the rare occasion a woman is praised for her mountaineering ability, it’s often along the lines of ”you’re good… for a girl”. She expresses frustration at being unable to be seen as competent as a mountaineer in her own right, rather than within the category of her gender. Another interesting point raised is that women may have their confidence knocked due to sexist experiences prior to joining the mountaineering community. For example, through the school system and societal pressure. This means that women are coming into the sport with an already depleted sense of self-confidence, competency and a heightened awareness of gender stereotypes, which may put her at a disadvantage when it comes to initially learning and investing in the mountaineering community. Many respondents noted that it is predominantly men who lead climbs and take women out climbing. One female notes that, in general, there are more men who are capable of leading harder routes, which is most likely the trickle-down result of systemic sexism within the mountaineering community. This goes back to the previous point, in that men are more likely to play-up their experience and abilities to gain more mountaineering opportunities. When questioned about whether they believe men and women can achieve to the same levels on mountaineering ability, club members had some valuable insights. One of the main themes which emerged in the responses is that mountaineering is a sport which is less about physical ability and more about endurance, knowledge and head-game. Whilst physical ability can be gendered (i.e. in terms of strength and stamina), head-game and expertise regarding mountaineering are concepts which are gender-neutral, therefore should technically leave male and female mountaineers on equal grounds. However, head-game and opportunities to gain this mountaineering expertise can be hindered through gendered socialisation, for instance in women struggling to overcome additional mental barriers (e.g. feeling the need to prove themselves more than the men do). Another key point raised is that mountaineering is a diverse sport which incorporates many different areas which all require different skills/body types (e.g. climbing versus hiking up mountains). Whilst shorter people can fit their hands and feet into smaller holds, taller people can reach further. More lean people might have physiques which are better suited to climbing, whereas more muscular people may be at an advantage when it comes to powering themselves up the hills. Therefore, individual differences in body type, rather than gender differences, may have more of an effect as to what areas mountaineers thrive in. Respondents raised the point that women and men may differ in their starting points when they begin mountaineering. One female observes that “we are not taken as seriously as men in mountaineering sports and people doubt our abilities more”. Other females discuss how, when first starting out in the sport, women tend to be more cautious than the men, which can impede progress and opportunities. As one female puts it, “[It’s a] bit difficult for beginners in general to 'break through' into the club unless they are good friends with someone already in the club.” This highlights the importance of female role models and creating opportunities for women in mountaineering. For example, organising an exclusively female trip away may encourage more female beginners to take the leap and get involved in a new sport. Those who already know the basics will be able to advance their skills in an environment where they don’t need to worry about the social repercussions of failing. Countless studies show that gender stereotype threat has a negative impact on performance. Similar to the Confidence Gap, when women perform in a domain which is typically male-dominated, she may feel a sense of dis-belonging which distracts her from the task at hand and will lead to worse performance, as her mind is distracted trying not to prove the stereotype. Therefore, more female role models and female inclusion in mountaineering will reduce the sense of dis-belonging women may feel and lead to better mountaineering performance overall. A final key point which our survey raised was how few BAME members the mountaineering community has, and why this may be. It is therefore important that we dedicate resources not only to promoting the inclusion of women in mountaineering and awareness of sexism within the community, but also to awareness of racism within outdoor communities and that we find ways to increase BAME participation. Nature, and the sports which are rooted in it, is for all humans to enjoy equally and we must fight to ensure that everyone is able to reap the physical and psychological benefits nature offers us.
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