Wanted: Girls who make video games

Technology has a 'bad brand'
Men outnumber women by a significant margin in most technology jobs — and the numbers at the college level aren’t encouraging, either. According to data from the Digest of Education Statistics, only 4 percent of bachelor’s degrees granted to women in 2005 were in math, computer science or engineering.

“Enrollment is down in technical programs in the United States and North America for both men and women,” says Cindy Nicola, vice president of human resources at Electronic Arts. “Technology has a bad brand for the upcoming generation.”

But not all game developers are programmers. Battling that perception is key to attracting diverse candidates — women included — to game companies, says Ron Jenkins of The Guildhall, a degree-granting game development school in Plano, Texas.

“We see about a 10 to 15 percent application rate of females,” he says.  “But you don’t have to be the stereotypical guy in the basement playing games to get into the games business.”

Ellen Beeman, one of the founders of Women in Games International, was a TV writer when she came to games over a dozen years ago.  She recalls the first GDC she attended in 1992, where she and another woman planned to meet up.

Red Octane "Guitar Hero II" was one of the best-selling games in 2006. The game also had a woman, Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom, as a producer.

“I asked her, ‘How will I find you?’” Beeman says. “She laughed and said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be two of 10 women there.’”

Beeman agrees that things have changed since then. “There’s no comparison to where industry was when I started and where it is now,” she says.  “But we’re not, as an industry, getting the word out that this is a good career for women.”

The infamous 'crunch'
Some of that “bad branding” could be due to the industry’s famously long work hours. As titles get closer to ship dates, teams tend to move into battle positions, pulling round-the-clock hours to hit important retail periods like Christmas, or the release of a new console. That can impact your social life, to be sure, but what if you have kids at home?

“Stereotypically, the burdens of running a household are greater on females,” says Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the IGDA. “And the work practices of the industry don’t lend themselves well to parenting in general.”

But as the game industry grows up — literally — these issues have moved to the forefront for men and women alike. Carlson says that she’s seen developers of both genders leave the industry because of work hours — and the lack of good maternity and childcare benefits.

“Companies that see value coming from quality employees will do things to keep them,” she says. “As more of those good employees are women, more women-friendly policies will come around.”

Wanted: Kinder and gentler
Beeman says that companies are beginning to get the message. “I have been hired specifically on teams because game development is hard,” she says. “They want someone who is a bit gentler and kinder — and they expect that from a woman.”

Andrea Wicklund believes her company — a well-regarded but press-shy game studio — hired her specifically to shake things up. Wicklund, a traditional illustrator, doesn’t play games at home and she hardly knows anything about computers.

“I don't know the ‘formula’ that video games should follow,” she says. “[But] I do know what looks good aesthetically.”

Wicklund says the male-dominated aspect of her new field didn’t faze her at all — quite the contrary.

“The enjoyment I find in video games lurks somewhere in my subconscious mind,” she says. “And seriously, how many office jobs give you the chance to annihilate your co-workers with a flame-thrower on a daily basis?”

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