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  Excalibur incorporates a student-centered, hands-on, project-based approach to learning.  Teaching STEAM through gaming isn't just about playing the games; it's also about creating them. Games help to foster: new perspectives, visions, complex thinking and relationships, identity and self-reflection, creativity, and motivation resulting in behavioral changes.  

     However, it is imperative that an active learning culture is nurtured in the classroom, wherein student agency, autonomy, and authentic content is the norm; risk and failure are celebrated as means to solutions, and honor and integrity are the foundations of daily proceedings.  

     

Changing the World

     In an age where a whole generation is taking its cultural cues and influences from games, it is of vital importance that under-represented groups step up to the challenge.  BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic)  is a UK-based initiative that exists to encourage more diverse talent to work in mobile, online and console gaming, VR, AR, eSports, VFX, animation and the wider entertainment industries. 

     Video games now earn $90bn a year worldwide, dwarfing the cinema and music businesses. The growing popularity of games – on PC, console, smartphone and tablets – has also led to a surge in young people seeking to work in the industry: over 170 US universities provide undergraduate and masters degrees in games development. But who are the people guiding this inspirational and pervasive cultural sector?

     The latest figures from games industry trade body, TIGA, show that just 14% of people working in the games industry are women.  Looking at the most recent figures, the picture is pretty depressing when considering ethnic diversity. A Creative Skillset report shows that BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) industry representation stood at 4% in 2016, down from 4.7% the previous year.

     There are some basic interlocking problems here. First, the current games industry represents a vicious circle of under-representation that is familiar across the whole of technology: the less that young women and people of color see themselves represented in the sector, the less they’re likely to apply for jobs.

     “Society doesn’t see technical women enough so it’s assumed that they don’t exist and ‘technology isn’t something women do’,” says Anne-Marie Imafidon, co-founder of Stemettes, a group offering free STEM workshops and events for young women.  She continues, "These attitudes and social norms permeate decisions made at all levels--- so women aren’t hired, promoted or given positions of responsibility and the cycle continues.”"

     There is also a problem of culture. The mainstream industry has spent years pandering to a hardcore demographic of young men.  While it can be argued that the interest begins with representation in games themselves, the form that representation takes also matters. 

     “When there’s no representation in the products or the industry, then the message is that this only belongs to a certain group of people...,” says Damilola Odelola, founder of the diversity initiative, Blackgirl.Tech, which provides free workshops introducing black women to technology, including virtual reality and coding. 

     “...and often when a female character is represented she’s a stereotype or a caricature, which just reinforces that idea." 

But the industry is changing...

      So how can things change? Big-name gaming companies are recognizing the value of having a more balanced development team, as it could potentially result in a greater variety of games.  More women in gaming could increase the diversity of the customer base, bringing in players who might not have been interested in the traditionally male-targeted games. It’s not just a boy’s hobby anymore — gaming can appeal to women, too. As this shift occurs, girls and women interested in gaming development are receiving more support and resources as encouragement to get into the business.

     A key element is going to be challenging the dominant culture by attracting more young women and people of color into the industry. Recognizing that greater diversity on development teams creates a stronger foundation for the team to create games that may maximize their global appeal, the industry is beginning to reach out to minorities.  A commitment to equity demands an early focus on cultivating student interest, as well as removing obstacles that block some students from accessing computer science opportunities.

      Furthermore, lifting the lid on games and how they are made is a way to help attract a broader range of talent to the sector, beyond those interested in programming. Young people may not realize that games are about music, art, performance and animation, as well as coding.

EA, Microsoft, Google, Ubisoft and organizations such as Women in Games and Girls Who Code have created initiatives to recognize the importance of reaching children, parents, and influencers before they make their subject choices in education.     

     "It starts at a very young age; the choice of subjects at school and parental influence can play a huge role in the likelihood of girls and minorities applying themselves to pursuing studies that are relevant to our industry,” says Giselle Stewart, Ubisoft’s director of UK corporate affairs.

     “These students will help to shape the future of our industry and will play an important role in increasing diversity and representation among game developers. That, in turn, will play a role in increasing the diversity of games themselves.”

 

 

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Why Video Games?

"Game-based learning does not mean blind faith in technology such as video games or social media clumsily shoehorned into a curriculum like a stepsister’s foot vainly squeezed into Cinderella’s slipper."  ~Lee Sheldon

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