Representation and Careers of Women in the Videogame Industry

Abstract

This essay examines the connections between the representation of women in videogames, and whether this impacts women’s view of the videogame industry as a viable career possibility. There is a correlation between improved representation of women in videogames and having women work in the videogame industry, but that does not mean they are being employed in higher positions, such as game developers. Historically, women in the videogame industry only represented 30% of the work force, and only 3% of game developers were female. The research presented uses feminist methodology as a lens, and contains a historical overview of the field, as well as different psychology studies. Female representation and it’s relationship between the videogame industry is a new field with little research done. This concept provides insight to a possible untapped market of women in the videogame industry, and has implications for psychology, gender, and the videogame industry itself.