Scottish Women In Games 2013: Sexes Represent!

When I was growing up, you would've had more chance finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow than hearing "women" and "games" associated with each other. But, following the recent Scottish Women In Games event, I would love to travel back to that time and give them the "You were wrong!" lecture we all so love to hear. The time for representation has never been so prominent in today's industry.

The campaign, led by Maxine Dodds, aims to raise the awareness of potential careers within the gaming industry to females. With no current figure as to how many women are actually working within the gaming industry - both in Scotland and internationally - it is widely agreed the women are heavily under-represented in this industry.

When I and fellow Amber Glass colleague Lee turned up to this event, we were pleasantly surprised at how much representation this campaign has received so quickly. There was a good mix of industry personnel and students of the local University of Abertay Dundee, and the proposed plans of various workshops and meetings can only mean good things for the future of this campaign.

What really interested me though was that there are a number of people who believe this campaign is just for females. As I promoted the event amongst my peers and told them about my future attendance to the event, I was met with the facial expression of bewilderment more often than not. This sign of ignorance is why this campaign has been thrust into the spotlight over the past year or two, especially with the news of "#1reasonwhy" from Twitter last year.

When asking Sarah Samson, recently-elected member of NUS Scotland Women's Committee, about her views on the apparent sexism within multiple industries (not just our own), she responded simply with the following phrase:

"You can't aspire to be what you cannot see."

I think that pretty much sums up the point of this campaign. The naïve "belief" that I received is exactly why I am in full support of this notion for female representation within our industry. For those that don't know of me too well, I am an advocate for equality and representation, and we are in a time in society where acceptance and diversity should be embraced. Hopefully we will see more female involvement within this sector of the gaming industry in the very near future. 

To get involved with this campaign, head on over to the Facebook group to join in and find out more about events and meetings for the future. A final word of congratulations to Maxine Dodds for putting the campaign together!

Andrew Reid
Managing Director