[game_edu] Implications of students going into a male-dominated industry?

[Jose P. Zagal]

> It makes me wonder though: the fact that the industry is predominantly

> white, male and straight, and that this lack of diversity is a problem

> in so many ways -- is this a problem on everyone's radar in the

> educational space? How do different schools handle this (particularly

> trade/vocational schools that are highly industry-focused)? Does anyone

> require students to take an entire class in understanding unequal

> societal power dynamics... or do you graft it on to a single class as an

> isolated topic, and hope it sticks... or do you try to integrate these

> discussions throughout the curriculum (say, by having game design

> students make games for target audiences other than themselves)... or

> does the topic never see mention in the classroom at all because it's

> seen to be outside the scope of game dev?



We cover many of the issues in the game industry in the context of a 
course on Ethics and Videogames (e.g. credit, working conditions, 
diversity, etc.). The course covers more than that, but at least there 
are a few class periods dedicated to talking about problems the game 
industry is currently facing...


-- 
José P. Zagal
Assistant Professor
College of Computing and Digital Media
DePaul University

http://www.ludoliteracy.com/
http://facsrv.cs.depaul.edu/~jzagal