Skydiving, as a sport, attracts more men than women. Despite the fact that physical gender differences make no difference in skydiving ability, only 13% of licensed skydivers in the US are women. This disparity is not because women aren’t competitive, in fact, they disproportionately made up 25% of the competitors at skydiving national championships in 2017. Instead, it may be because women’s brains are set up to be more risk adverse than men. One research study* found females are less likely to take risks, particularly when under stress, like the kind induced by jumping out of a plane. Not only that, but an additional study** concluded that women are perceived as being less interested in taking risks and, therefore, have more difficulty seeking support while learning to challenge themselves.
Risk-taking doesn’t only apply to extreme sports.
Fear is perceptual; it’s not always associated with physical danger. More often, risk is associated with the fear of failure or embarrassment. How many times have held yourself back because you didn’t want to risk rejection or humiliation? In a male-dominated society, women are faced with major hurdles in their professional advancement. These challenges require courage; women must push themselves emotionally and physically to overcome these hurdles. Unfortunately, research shows that women are less likely take risks even if the outcome may improve their lives. Worse yet, women often don’t have the support systems to empower them to take these risks.
How do we encourage women to explore their wild side and take more calculated, powerful risks that transform their lives? At Orange Skies, we believe that education is key. By identifying what holds us back and using tools to face both emotional and physiological fear, we teach women to move forward with the courage to pursue previously unattainable goals. Skydiving is a fantastic learning vehicle to highlight and remove self-imposed limitations, empowering us to use fear to define our joy rather than determine our fate. As part of our mission to build a community of diversity and inclusion, Orange Skies promotes female participation and education.
Intro to Skydiving for Women
This summer we are proud to sponsor Intro to Skydiving for Women: A Course in Courage, a professionally coached course aimed at helping women harness their courage in all corners of their lives through the sport of skydiving. Our hope is that women will find this course not only a safe intro to the risk of skydiving, but also a priceless tool to expand their lives in ways they never thought possible.
Who:
Women who want to grow their inner courage and empower their lives
What:
A weekend long course that explores themes of personal courage, inner narratives, and learning to embrace discomfort, culminating in a tandem skydive!
Where:
Orange Skies Freefall Center at Fort Morgan Municipal Airport
When:
Friday June 21st at 6PM – Sunday June 23rd at 8PM
For more information about this course, visit the Eventbrite page or the Facebook page
For those of you who have the courage right now, visit our reservations page to book your first tandem!
*Mather, M and Lighthall, N. (2012). Risk and Reward are Processed Differently in Decisions Made Under Stress. Association for Psychological Science Online at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721411429452
**Ball, S. Et al. (2010). Risk aversion and physical prowess: Prediction, choice and bias. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty (2010) 41(3) 167-193 Online at https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/risk-aversion-physical-prowess-prediction-choice-bias/