Thesis
DEEP: A qualitative study of the leisure constraints, negotiation and benefits experienced by adventurous baby boomer women who scuba dive
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25918/thesis.214
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Abstract
Participation in recreational scuba diving activities continues to grow around the world. In Australia, older women are signing on for dive training in unprecedented numbers. The largest diver training agency, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), reveals that more baby boomer women (born 1946 to 1966) are learning to dive. As a boomer woman who dives, I am curious about the paucity of academic interest in leisure studies literature into older women divers. The current study aims to provide a novel view of the active lives of 32 Australian women by exploring what it means to be an older woman who dives.
Qualitative methods employing semi-structured, in-depth interviews were utilised to understand the role diving plays in active ageing for older women divers (OWDs). Adopting a narrative inquiry in an interpretive paradigm allowed the researcher to examine the divers’ recollections of constraints and experiences. OWDs’ narratives portrayed them as confident, capable, curious and motivated – all aspects of successful active ageing. New categories of leisure constraints emerged from the data pertaining to physical and environmental influences, contributing to knowledge of leisure constraints, active ageing and women’s leisure studies.
The findings revealed that many participants were constrained by pain, equipment, and lack of time and money. Most constraints were negotiated by employing three overarching strategies: planning, prioritising and persisting, enabling continued diving. Successful negotiation provided access to benefits including fitness, connection, stress reduction, confidence and learning, presenting diving as an enjoyable activity that contributes to active ageing. Data supported women’s leisure constraints studies, and a conceptual model demonstrating these findings and their interrelationships emerged. The Constraints Negotiation Benefits model contributes to the active ageing and leisure literature. The originality of the research is present in the methodology and the cohort under investigation. Authors have undertaken qualitative studies of women in outdoor adventure activities, but this is the first doctoral study into adventurous older women who dive. Implications for leisure practitioners and assumptions of older aquatic women’s capabilities are considered.
Details
- Title
- DEEP: A qualitative study of the leisure constraints, negotiation and benefits experienced by adventurous baby boomer women who scuba dive
- Creators
- Sally Fiona Gregory - Southern Cross University, Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Contributors
- Kay Dimmock (Supervisor) - Southern Cross UniversitySilvia Nelson (Supervisor) - Southern Cross University
- Awarding Institution
- Southern Cross University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Theses
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
- Publisher
- Southern Cross University
- Number of pages
- xviii, 318
- Identifiers
- 991013043213202368
- Copyright
- © SF Gregory 2021
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Resource Type
- Thesis