TIGA comment on gender imbalance in the UK games industry
Only 6.6% of the workforce is female.
TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, said today that if the games industry was to recruit a more diverse workforce then more girls in schools and women in colleges and universities should be supported and encouraged to study courses relevant to the industry. There was also a need to profile the games industry as a potential career choice in schools and higher education. TIGA made the comments following a statement by Lynne Featherstone MP, Minister for Equalities, that some companies “risk being uncompetitive” if they did not address the gender imbalance in the games industry. The Minister made the comments in a statement to the Women in Games strand at the Develop conference in Brighton.
Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:
“The 2010 TIGA-Hewitt Games Software Developers’ Salary Survey shows that just 6.6 per cent of the workforce is female. This is an extraordinary gender imbalance. The video games industry would like to recruit a more diverse workforce. If we are to recruit a more diverse workforce then we need to encourage more women to both study courses relevant to the games industry and to highlight the career opportunities that exist in the sector. TIGA produces a career guide for this purpose. We hope that the Government will work with TIGA to champion the games industry as a potential career path.”
About 15 per cent of T2G students are female. Approximately 10 per cent of students on a typical university games course are female. The proportion of HE graduates studying computer science in 2006/7 that were women was just over 17 per cent.
Wilson added:
“All games businesses must ensure that their selection and recruitment policies and practices promote equal opportunities and recruit on merit.”
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About TIGA:
TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA was awarded ‘Trade Association of the Year’ and the ‘Member Recruitment Award’ at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2010.
TIGA's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.
For further information, please contact Eva Field, TIGA PR Manager on: 07814 039 983, or email eva@tiga.org.