Introduction:
"Using data extracted from a large study of female game workers, this study adds to the scarcity of research into the area of women working in the computer games industry. It would appear that occupational segregation still persists in this relatively new, male dominated industry. Findings suggest gender role identity and attitudes are important issues when looking at segregation within the industry. Implications for future research on the games industry are discussed"
"According to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), occupational
segregation remains one of the strongest influences on young people's choice of
career (Miller et. al., 2004)"
"Occupations are social categories; people within an occupation share things such as preferences and experiences (Weeden and Grusky, 2005). Therefore, occupational categories are an important part of a person’s sense of self (Taylor, 2010)"
Background - Occupational Segregation:
"In a recent study, Mumford and Smith (2007) found the earnings gap between men and women in Britain is due to a combination of things such as: the different personal characteristics or traits between men and
women, workplace segregation and occupational segregation. When women are segregated into certain jobs, those jobs usually pay less, have fewer opportunities for progression, less job autonomy, and less authority within the organisation."
"Women in male dominated occupations have been found to receive less support than men
but more support in mixed gender occupations; whereas, men receive high levels of support in female-dominated occupations. Therefore, being in the minority is an advantage for men, but a disadvantage for women"
Segregation in SET and ICT Industries:
"With regards to promotion, the WWW-ICT report suggests that ICT organisations
have a flat structure with little hierarchy. Flat organisations lead to an informal
working environment, but career ladders can be short or nonexistent. A lack of
formal structures and progression processes can make it particularly difficult for
women to gain advancement."
"According to James and Cardador (2007), women’s cognitions and beliefs about technology and science are more negative than men’s, resulting in a disinterest in the employment sector. One reason for a disinterest in computer games as an occupation is the long hours that have become standard within the industry Fullerton et. al., 2008). Another reason relates to the identity of women within the industry. For instance, Wajcman (2007) argues that women are asked to exchange aspects of their gender identity for a masculine version and forsakeInternational Journal of Gender, their femininity without this de-gendering process occurring for men. It has also been suggested that in order to cope with the challenges to their own gender identity and those of the men with whom they work, women in ICT and SET industries must develop strategies (Newell, 2002). One such strategy is for women to make their gender identity invisible (Griffiths et.al, 2007) or become more masculine (Wajcman, 2007)."
‘Technologies have a masculine image, not only because they are dominated by men but because they incorporate symbols, metaphors and values that have masculine connotations’ (Wajcman, 2007, p.289)
Segregation in the Games Industry:
"The games industry is made up of a number of specialities including development, production, design, level design, audio design, art and testing (Green et.al.,2007). Recent figures contained in the 2008 Oxford Economics report suggest that the UK games industry has over 9000 employees. A report by the online games magazine, MCV (2008) suggests that the percentage of women within the games industry in core creation or developmental roles is around just 6.9%. More recent figures produced by Skillset (2009) found that women represent 4% of the game industry’s workforce, a decrease from 12% in 2006 (Skillset, 2006"
"The creative media industries workforce as a whole has declined within the three years between the two censuses. It would therefore appear that the industry is losing its battle to increase its appeal to a more diverse workforce"
"According to Krotoski (2004) only 0.4% of female employees in the UK games industry are in lead, director or management positions, whilst 1.2% of male employees hold these jobs. Research by Haines (2004) found that nearly a quarter (23%) of senior positions within the twenty UK games companies in her
study were filled by women. However, Haines study revealed that senior women were more often found in managerial and senior roles in the less technical areas of games development or in areas more associated with traditional female roles, such as marketing, rather than direct games development"
Discussion:
"The findings highlight the different attitudes of women working in the games industry. This paper has shown differences between women in different professions and grades in terms gender role identity at work and their attitudes towards the career barriers to women’s career progression and to a lesser extent their attitudes towards their own career progression. Like the wider ICT and SET industries, women need more representation in all areas and roles within the industry. With regards to vertical segregation however,women in the current study tended to be in more senior grades in contrast to the findings of women in ICT and SET. It would therefore appear that occupational segregation still persists in this new, male dominated industry"
"With regards to professional identity, the finding that executives having a significantly higher masculine gender role identity compared to artists/animators is interesting since it could suggest that women in a powerful executive positionInternational Journal of Gender, either adopt or naturally have more masculine characteristics than those in other areas of the games industry, especially those in the more creative, artistic roles in game development."
I thought to be quite a sexist remark considering the nature of this reading - "Feminine traits include warmth, kindness, selflessness and sympathy(Schein, 1973). Masculine traits include aggression, forcefulness, rationality, competitiveness, decisiveness, strength, self-confidence and independence (Schein, 1973)."
At this moment in the article i am finding the reading of it quite difficult and to be honest quite a sexist and repetitive piece as it seems the same thing is being said then repeated with fancier words in it and the fact that this article is written by women, no offence, suggests quite a negative and one sided view of the industry and broadcasts factual evidence influenced by their own personal beliefs, opinions and experiences and shows the facts to promote their views. Also it appears that the questions were not asked to both male and female workers which would also give a more swayed opinion which i believe has been given the fascade of a fact.
"The games industry may be relatively new, but it is a large industry with a significant influence over today’s media landscape. In 2009, computer games outsold films; including DVD’s and cinema tickets sold (Wallop, 2009), highlighting the importance of women’s participation in such an influential industry."
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