BAFTA highlights career advice issues
Survey examines lack of information on breaking into games, films or television industries
A new study from BAFTA has shown young people hoping for a career in games will struggle to find the right type of career advice, especially if they're female or from a lower socio-economic backgrounds.
20 per cent of the 2277 people surveyed found accessing information about a career in games, films or television "difficult or impossible," and of those that did find it 64 per cent found it too general to be of use. 49 per cent felt the advisor lacked knowledge on the industry.
One in six of those who found the advice unhelpful were actually "actively discouraged from their chosen path."
More specifically 28 per cent of all those interested in games said that "the advice they were given ignored their skill set." That's compared to 13 per cent of the general sample.
The findings regarding women and games made for particularly depressing reading.
"Young women were markedly less likely to consider a career in games, with just 9 per cent of female respondents having considered this industry, compared to 38 per cent of young men," said BAFTA.
In fact just 4 per cent of the females who took park in the study are currently doing a course, work experience or job related to games, compared to 18 per cent of males.
"Females were also more likely to be discouraged from a career in film, television or games, with 28 per cent feeling that they wouldn't fit in and 21 per cent dissuaded by parents, family or friends, compared with 21 per cent and 14 per cent of males in the same situation."
A third of those surveyed had also been discouraged on the basis that they needed to be able survive on little pay in order to break into the game, film and television industries
"With increasing pressures on young people making career choices, it is worrying to see that potentially talented future members of our industries are unable to find the right advice to steer them onto this path," said chair of BAFTA's Learning and Events committee Anne Morrison.
"We call on our industries, teachers and careers advisors to equip themselves with the right information about the enormous range of fulfilling careers available - from set design to game design, to visual effects or producing - in order to give the best advice possible to the next generation of talent."
The BAFTA Career Pathways Survey collected data from 2,077 young people aged 16-24, along with 200 BAFTA members. It was conducted online by by ResearchBods.