The Sims has sold over 40 million copies, and some reports say that 60-70% of players are women. Girls have frequently been said as enjoying “social” games, games with good storylines, and games that support creativity. “Pink” software titles have been produced — in some cases with great success — such as Barbie Fashion Designer, a huge seller in 1997 that outsold Quake and Myst. However, do titles that rely on traditional female stereotypes necessarily good for gender equity? Or do these games partly contribute to a self fulfilling prophecy where society perpetuates the stereotype that girl gamers are only of a certain type?
Food for thought: 39% of all gamers are women according to the Entertainment Software Association (2004). In fact, more women over 18 are now playing games than young boys between the ages 6 and 17 (26% compared to 21%). Games like World of Warcraft, with many elements that can be characterized as male (e.g. fighting), have an estimated 30% female players. Maybe game designers and researchers shouldn’t be so quick to decide how girls will play games.
Video games have sometimes been touted as the gateway to increased computer literacy. Students can play games in the classroom, design their own games as a class activity (e.g. Kafai), or mod games — that is, to adapt an existing game (typically using a toolset) for some other purpose. Games with some degree of modding capability include; Neverwinter Nights, The Sims 2, Dungeon Siege, Second Life, Freedom Force VS. The Third Reich, and Half-Life, among others. Can game modding increase self-efficacy and motivation while teaching female students basic IT skills? Two students at Penn State University offered an extra curricular course, Gaming for Girls, in which an all-female class modded Warcraft 3 while learned some basic IT skills. Was it effective? The paper’s findings are somewhat inconclusive due to a small sample size, but it does provide interesting food for thought for how game modding could be an effective approach for engaging students. Click here to read the paper (PDF format).
Yucel, I., Zupko, J., & Seif El-Nasr, M. (2006). IT education, girls, and game modding. International Journal of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 3(2).
Teachers realize that preparing lesson plans and the act of teaching itself causes the teacher to master the subject matter in an in-depth way. What happens when you let the students themselves become the teachers — that is, to let kids create their own educational video games to teach others? Kafai (2006) published a series of studies in which 10-year old children designed their own games, complete with characters, storylines and game themes to teach math (fractions) and science. Rather than embedding ”lessons” directly in games (i.e. more of an “instructionist” strategy, Kafai discusses a “constructionist” strategy that allows students to construct new relationships with knowledge while designing their own games. Therefore, learning takes place during the process of building games.
One interesting finding: Kafai notes “persistent gender differences in virtually all design aspects ranging from violent feedback in case of a wrong answer, the cast of extended characters, the goals of the game, and fantasy context…Although there are no significant gender differences in the proficiency of making games, it is obvious that girls prefer to make very different fraction games from those designed by boys in their class. Most interestingly, when asked to design science rather than fraction games, these gender differences disappeared. Click here to read Kafai’s paper from Games and Culture (in PDF format), along with her more in-depth discussion about gender differences in game design.
According to the American Association of University Women’s Educational Foundation Commision on Technology, current estimates suggest that by 2010, one fourth of all new jobs will be technologically oriented. The challenge is paramount for the poor, minorities, and women, as these are the groups who tend to have less access to computers and technology. According to a NSF report, nearly 50% of White families in the US own a PC, but fewer than 25% of Black families own one. The divide is all too evident.
In the past, video games have been seen as a “boy’s toy”, with many games reinforcing stereotypes (”please rescue the helpless princess!”) Recent shifts have seen stronger female characters and more women playing games in general — 43% of all gamers today are women, but most of these women are over the age of 18 (Entertainment Software Association, 2005). Popular titles include massively multiplayer online games and gender neutral software and gaming titles such as EA’s The Sims. How can we prevent girls from forming negative stereotypes about computers and technology, particularly in the thinking that only males are capable of succeeding in such careers? The responsibility for closing the gender gap isn’t just with software and game developers, but also with the educational system and families. Teachers must ensure that both girls and boys have at least equal exposure to computers, and that stereotypes are not further reinforced. Slowly, some steps can be taken to move things towards greater equity, as far as career opportunities are concerned.