While the world of video games is often characterized as a boys’ club, some colleges in Canada are structuring their video game design programs to attract more female students.
The video game design program at Centennial College in Toronto has been hovering close to gender-equal enrolment.
“I’d say it’s probably 60-40 male to female right now, but the mix is always a little bit different,” said Philip Krueger, the video game design program co-ordinator at Centennial. “We’ve had classes that were 50/50 before. Each year we have a maximum class size of 26. Of that, this year, 10 are women.”
Krueger attributed the design program nearing gender parity to the way the curriculum is designed.
The program itself is geared toward 3-D artists rather than video game enthusiasts, and focuses on artistic skills and creation. There’s also an emphasis on traditional drawing, and students are required to present art portfolios before they can enter the program.
“Having that, it does tend to filter the applicants and students a little bit,” Krueger said. “We’re not getting just anybody who’s interested in video games.”
There are 16,500 people in Canada employed in video game production, the highest per capita in the world, according to a survey conducted by Global Gaming in 2015.
The same survey found that 48 per cent of gamers identify as female, and video game purchasers by gender are split right down the middle.
Despite the findings suggesting video games are loved by both genders, some video game programs have significantly more men than women enrolled.
Male students outnumber female students four to one in the video game program at Sheridan College, which has Canada’s only four-year bachelor’s program in video game design, according to Angela Stukator, the school’s associate dean.
But in an attempt to encourage female students to apply, one of its curriculum goals is attempting to maintain diversity in the kinds of games created.
“We don’t presume everyone is going to make a [first-person shooter], or a space shooter,” said Cindy Poremba, a video game design professor at Sheridan. “I think overall our faculty are pretty good at focusing on gender-neutral or gender-balanced activities.”
Many female video game designers, players, and enthusiasts have faced intense harassment, often from anonymous people online. In 2014, an online harassment campaign was aimed toward women in the video game industry using the hashtag #Gamergate on Twitter.
But since the #Gamergate controversy, some signs indicate changing attitudes.
Prominent members of the video game industry have spoken in support of gender inclusion, while American lawmakers have called for greater action against cyber harassment.
Meanwhile, at the University of Southern California’s well-respected video game design program, women now outnumber men.
Chelsea O’Hara, a digital media producer living in Toronto, called the #Gamergate campaign a “poor initiative for negativity.”
“If this is a male-dominated industry with a male-dominated market, and we know that there are a lot of males playing these games, it becomes a very powerful thing to have all of their attention,” she said.
Another issue some have voiced concerns over is that games such as Mortal Kombat include what many call unrealistic and sexualized depictions of women.
“I think if you can say, yeah, here’s a strong female character who isn’t over-sexualized, who’s practical, who’s smart, who’s versatile, and who’s resourceful, they should forget that there’s even a gender there,” O’Hara said. “A gender shouldn’t have to affect how a person enjoys the game play.”
Although O’Hara received a scholarship to attend the University of Ontario Institute of Technology for its video game design program in 2010, she never went to school for game design.
While researching the program, O’Hara recalls being informed it was a relatively small program. In a graduating class of 30 to 60 people, maybe six of them were going to be women, she said.
“I was like, ‘Jesus, that’s really low!’ I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted my university experience to be like. I was only 17 at the time, and I didn’t want to be heavily influenced by a male-dominated program or field,” she said.
Being in the industry now, O’Hara urges young women to go into video game design.
“With the [changing demographic], now is definitely the time for women to enrol,” she said.
Poremba said despite Sheridan’s current attempts to focus on diversity, it could always aim higher.
“It takes time and effort to go beyond what is still a very male canon of game designers and speakers,” she said, “but it’s worth it.
