i make games project

(an easy) call to action to game developers

I Make Games Project - video campaign

I Make Games

IMakeGamesProject@gmail.com

The games industry has 3 related problems:

1. too few female game developers (all disciplines)

2. shortage of software engineers (male & female)

3. perception that women are unwelcome

problems

problem 1:

There are too few female game developers.

problem: shortage of female game developers

2007 2014Programmers 3% women 5% women

Game Designers 7% 13%

Artists 9% 9%

Producers 18% 22%

problem: shortage of female game developers

Gamasutra Salary Survey 2007 Gamasutra Salary Survey 2014

Research shows that gender diversity improves the bottom line.

The lack of women in game development is bad for the games industry.

problem: shortage of female game developers

Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance, Credit Suisse Research Institute, August 2012.

The lack of women in game development is bad for women, too.

Women are missing out on great jobs in a creative and well-paid industry.

problem: shortage of female game developers

problem 2:

There is a shortage of software engineers.

problem: shortage of software engineers

New jobs in computer science added to American economy every year:

problem: shortage of software engineers

National Bureau of Labor Statistics

140,000

New graduates in computer science every year:

National Science Foundation

40,000

A contributing factor to the shortage of software engineers:

Half the population tends to avoid the field.

problem: shortage of software engineers

Percent of Computer Science undergraduate degree recipients who were women:

problem: shortage of software engineers

National Center for Women in Technology

37% 18% 1985 2012

If we could get

more girls motivated to make games

problem: shortage of software engineers

we’d get

more girls studying computer science which means

more software engineers

problem 3:

Controversy over sexism in video game culture begs the question:

Are women welcome in the game industry?

problem: women are being attacked in the game community

See http://www.gamersagainstgamergate.com/ for information about GamerGate and the fight against it; see also Washington Post, New York Times and Wikipedia.

We can do something about this.

Inspired by the “It Gets Better” campaign...

the “I Makes Games” channel willprovide role models to girls

role models make a difference

I Make Games Project - video campaign

“It Gets Better Project”: lots of videos of inspirational role models. Campaign has had over 4 Million views.

video campaign showcasing female game developers

role models make a difference

I Make Games

I Make Games Project - video campaign

The new “I Make Games Project” YouTube channel will also provide inspirational role models.

* Mock up of the new I Make Games YouTube channel, including mocks of some of the videos

“I Make Games” will be a new YouTube channel

hosting an ever-growing number of videos about female game developers.

role models make a difference

Primary target audience:

middle school girls & high school girls

role models make a difference

How will that help?

role models make a difference

Studies show that girls lose interest in math and science during middle school.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

Why do girls start losing interest in STEM in middle school?

(STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

understanding why girls avoid STEM

The research points to many reasons.

The “I Make Games” videos can help combat some of those reasons.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Nearly half of all girls say that they would feel uncomfortable being the only girl in a group or class.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

Many girls prefer working in groups and collaborating with others to solve problems, and they believe that STEM work culture is isolating.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

57% of all girls say that if they went into a STEM career, they’d have to work harderthan a man just to be taken seriously.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

Entertainment culture appears to make it “uncool” to be smart in subjects like math or science and a barrier to being noticed by boys.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

The rise in the “brogramming” culture has made computer science less attractive to women.

brogramming: “a term that seeks to recast the geek identity with a competitive frat house flavor”

Brogramming: The disturbing rise of frat culture in Silicon Valley, The Week Staff , April 30, 2012

understanding why girls avoid STEM

Changes in university policies to limit CS enrollment during tech booms had a disproportionately negative effect on women.

Encouraging Women in Computer Science, Eric S. Roberts, Marina Kassianidou, Lilly Irani. Department of Computer Science, Stanford University. June 2002 issue of Inroads, the quarterly bulletin of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE)

understanding why girls avoid STEM

The “I Make Games” channel won’t solve all of those problems.

But the research suggests that game development has distinct advantages when it comes to getting girls into STEM.

role models for girls

Girls like collaboration.

Game development is a team sport.It is all about collaboration among people

with different skill sets.

game development should be a great field for girls

Girls fear that doing “smart” things makes them uncool.

Game development is “smart” work that leads to cool and popular products.

game development should be a great field for girls

Girls are already interested in game development.

game development should be a great field for girls

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

57% percent of girls agreed “I think it would be fun to create an iPhone app or design a computer/video game.” (Goes up to 67% for African American and Hispanic girls)

game development should be a great field for girls

Generation STEM: What Girls say about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute. 2012.

Game development is● collaborative● cool● interesting to girls

Now let’s add Role Models

game development should be a great field for girls

Research shows that role models bolster confidence, especially when they exist at every step of the career ladder.

role models make a difference

Encouraging Women in Computer Science, Eric S. Roberts, Marina Kassianidou, Lilly Irani. Department of Computer Science, Stanford University. June 2002 issue of Inroads, the quarterly bulletin of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE)

ConfidenceIt’s a big deal

role models make a difference

For 20 years, work has focused on boosting girls’ interest in STEM.

Recent research suggests that a big focus should be on confidence.

Nadya Fouad, Tracking The Reasons Many Girls Avoid Science And Math, University of Wisconsin, Sep 8, 2008

role models make a difference

Confidence leads to interest.

"If they feel they can do it, it feeds their interest."

role models make a difference

Nadya Fouad, Tracking The Reasons Many Girls Avoid Science And Math, University of Wisconsin, Sep 8, 2008

Kids can be very impressionable; stereotypes can be self-fulfilling prophecies.

role models make a difference

When girls believe they are expected to be bad at math, they do much worse on math tests than the boys.

When they are told that boys and girls are equally good at math, then they perform as well as the boys.

understanding why girls avoid STEM

"Constraints into Preferences: Gender, Status, and Emerging Career Aspirations", American Sociological Review, Correll (2004)

Show female role models in game development:

Give girls confidence that they can succeed in game development.

role models make a difference

Goal of this presentation:

Get game companies to make videos showcasing their female developers and put them on the new “I Make Games” YouTube channel that will launch in March 2015.

role models make a difference

The videos will come from game developers large and small:

from Electronic Arts and Zynga, to indie studios,

to universities and high schools

I Make Games Project - video campaign

The videos will be similar to the producer-narrated trailers that game companies already make,

with talking heads and video game footage.

I Make Games Project - video campaign

These videos will show women

at every level of game development, and in every discipline,

talking about their work

I Make Games Project - video campaign

Short videos. Moderated.

No comments.

I Make Games Project - video campaign

Take a stand

Celebrate the women who are already making games

Encourage a new generation of girls to join their ranks.

I Make Games Project - video campaign

Contributing videos to “I Make Games” is good for your company:

● Recruiting women● Promoting your games● Taking a stand

I Make Games Project - video campaign

OK, I’m in.

How do I get my company involved in “I Make Games”?

1. Email imakegamesproject@gmail.com to say that you are in! We’ll send you some video assets and guidelines for an outro slates

2. Create videos featuring your female developers (see guidelines below)

3. Share the your videos with us so we can put them on the channel

4. Also host the videos on your company site

5. Keep making videos after that, and adding them to the I Make Games Project YouTube channel

I Make Games Project - video campaign

Video guidelines:● Who

○ Women - the first set will be all women○ Developers - all fields of game development ○ All levels - junior women and senior women

● Content○ Each woman tells a story (see next slide for story ideas) ○ Show game footage and game assets○ Use provided intro & outro slates

● Length: ○ 1 - 3 min is ideal

● Names: ○ Giving the full name is optional. ○ Warn people that being a woman in a video saying you are game developer might

make you a target for hate groups.

I Make Games Project - video campaign

Story ideas● A (constructive) war story of a near disaster during development● A funny or unexpected or marvelous thing that happened during

development● A game she worked on that got little recognition but she was still

pleased about● When she first realized she wanted to make games● Her favorite feature she designed, or coded, or favorite piece of art or

audio she created

I Make Games Project - video campaign

Don’t glamorize: just let the developers be themselves on camera.

I Make Games Project - video campaign

"Do Female and Male Role Models Who Embody STEM Stereotypes Hinder Women's Anticipated Success in STEM?", Social Psychological and Personality Science, Cheryan, et al. (2011)

I Make Games Project - video campaign

These producer walkthroughs (from The Sims Medieval and The Sims 3) shows multiple speakers and lots of footage from a game in development.

Imagine something like these, but featuring women telling interesting stories about game development.

The I Make Games Project is sponsored by IGDA and WIGI.

I Make Games Project - video campaign