Gender wage gap: How the game industry compares to the U.S. average

According to the newly released Gamasutra's Game Developer Salary Survey 2014 [PDF], women make less than men in every department in the game industry.

For the full article on Gamasutra, see Gender wage gap: How the game industry compares to the U.S. average

Girls-only game dev camp going global

Good to see other efforts to interest girls in game industry careers.

Shabir says, "So, how do I get girls interested in making games? I know girls like playing games. Maybe a summer camp would do it."

The inaugural camp was held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California in June, with follow-up camps hot on its heels. The next session is in Los Angeles. Then San Diego, Austin, Boston, Denver, Washington D.C. and Seattle. Later London, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Melbourne and Dubai. 

For full article, see Girls-only game dev camp going global with support from publishers

In September: European Women in Games Conference

The fourth annual European Women in Games Conference will take place on Wednesday, September 10th, 2014, at London South Bank University.  For tickets and info, go to http://ewigconference2014.eventbrite.co.uk

This year’s conference theme is “Your future in games” and will feature a range of topics, such as starting up a game company, career advice, and encouraging students to pursue careers in technology.

NY gender gap in tech jobs is widest in nation

 38% of NYC-area tech companies have women in top jobs.

"Women are still being "actively discouraged" from entering the tech field, said Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, a nonprofit working to close the technology gender gap."

For full article, see New York gender gap in tech jobs is the widest in the nation, report says

European Women in Games Conference New Speakers Announced

A number of additional high profile speakers will be appearing :

Noirin Carmody: COO Revolution Software
Fiona Sperry: Studio Director Criterion Games
Belinda Parmar: CEO Lady Geek

For more information, see http://wigconference2013.eventbrite.com and join the Women in Games Jobs Linked In group to see how to get promotional 15% off admission.

New Toys for Girls

Frustrated by the lack of non-Barbie-type toys for girls and armed with research on girls' play patterns, these entrepreneurs decided to create toys for girls that would ignite creativity, promote positive self-images, and interest girls in science and engineering.

In particular, I found the research very interesting:

"The play is also very precise with girls," says Kaskey, referring to the way in which girls set up the sports figurines on which the portable playing field and then add their own stuffed toys as spectators.

For the full article and to read descriptions of non-"pink" toys, see "New Toys for Girls" from Westchester Family.

Feminist Game Design Explored

NYU Game Center recently announced an upcoming series of lectures on feminist game design. To kick off the series, game designer and researcher Jessica Hammer described the design process of a game intended to strengthen the emotional skills of Ethiopian teenage girls.

For more information on other lectures in this series, check the NYU Game Center blog.