The BBC reports that the University of Derby recently launched a games programming course - all 106 applicants were men. They are now holding some all-female summer schools, and exploring the options of scholarships in an attempt to persuade women that solitary hours in front of a computer screen can be good for their career prospects.
Acting programme leader, lecturer John Sear, said: "Girls do want to play games but no-one is making games for them. I'm a programmer by trade and I know probably several hundred, and I have only ever met one woman."
Car design is another such field. There was an interesting interview with Sanghamitra Datta, an NID graduate, on CNBC's Auto Show. Sanghamitra enrolled for a course in car designing at the University of Bristol where the first day was a huge shock.
There were Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, Africans - ALL boys. She was the sole female student in the class which was kind of unnnerving. But she went on to complete the course with flying colours and is now a full-fledged automobile designer.
So I guess it's multiple factors:
a) Certain fields inherently interest boys more. Action and speed (seen both in games and cars) are more exciting to Mars than Venus.
b) Derby university sees it as a "chicken and egg" problem - of boys writing games that boys liked playing, which in turn attracted boys into the industry.
c) The fact that there are no women in these fields often scares away the few women who might be interested. And so the cycle continues.
And I'm not blaming anyone here, just making an observation. If the traditionally male armed forces and the police can attract women, surely game design and car design will eventually see more female talent. And games with more use of mental skill than adrenalin rush and blood :)
No girl I've seen plays games. And I don't think girls don't play games because it's boys who make them. What are the 'girl games', then? Dressing up dolls? A shopping game? There are few games which even girls can play, such as the SIMS or puzzle sort of games. Girls usually don't play because they feel that the game is too hard or the like. They are just downright lazy. I think these guys should do some sort of survey to see how girls are actually willing to play games.
ReplyDeleteAnd games with more use of mental skill than adrenalin rush and blood
ReplyDeleteObviously, you have no idea about the mental skill required to blow up an alien :)
But seriously, I think it's sometimes fun to do things that don't tax too many of my already lazy grey cells.
Add quizzing to the inexplicable areas that put off girls. Granted, there are a few girls involved in quizzes, but they've remained just that. Just a few. Again, this seems strange, it's hardly an area you'd expect them to do badly.
ReplyDeleteAnd Male quizzers for years have been complaining about it!
And games with more use of mental skill than adrenalin rush and blood?
ReplyDeleteI dont think games like Tetris, minesweeeper, freecell and chess were made by girls. Nor was the programming for deep blue done by a girl(there was not a single woman in the programming team). And even in normal chess, the norms for a Grand master are much more rigorous than those for a Woman Grand Master.
And the fact is that girls do not even play these games(leave alone make them) even if they are supposedly intelligent and men violent.
Ma'am , I seriously think you have to get over your biases regarding the sexes.
I dont see the logic behind Derbys reasoning that boys made games for boys and hence that led to more boys and kept away the girls.
ReplyDeleteIf I apply the reverse logic then a lot of things which men did should have actually been done by women. Let me explain with 2 examples:
a) Band Aid - created by a man for his clumsy wife who kept getting her hands cut repeatedly.
b) OXO kitchenware - again created by a man after seeing his wife struggle in the kitchen because of arthritis.
When womens problems or interests dont keep men away from trying to solve them, I dont see what keeps girls away from things that interest them or interest boys.
In the case of something that may not be financially remunerative, girls have a distinct advantage since they dont necessarily have to earn money to keep the family running and can indulge in unprofitable ventures like classical dance(Nita Ambani for example) or socializing(Parmeshwar Godrej) since the husband is anyway earning enough.
Bhavya! I'm insulted. You have SEEN me quiz.
ReplyDelete(Yes, I was usually the only girl in the room, but still!)
looks to me madam u gotta get a grip on reality,, girls cant do what boys can its the same reason u dont see a lot of girls rriding big bikes making games and designing cars needs as much aggression as it needs mental and technical provess ,, some virtues girls totally lack,,,, shangamitra might have completed the design course which was at coventry and not bristol (only a girl would make a mistake like this ) and design a hotel in spain but she cant design cars for shit
ReplyDelete