According to Gabrielle Toledano, Electronic Art’s executive vice president, while sexism may be an issue in the gaming industry, it’s not the reason behind the low percentage of women who work in it,as she said in an editorial at Forbes.
Actually, about half of all gamer’s are female, but there is still a belief that “the only people playing games are boys in their basements”, says Toledano.”Blaming men for not creating an attractive work environment is a cop-out’. She mentioned that hiring women in the gaming industry is beneficial, as they would know how to design games that would interest female players. “Embracing a diverse culture and making talent a core focus of our business isn’t just a feel-good message-it’s necessary if we want to go on making great games”, said Toledano.
Sexism is also not tolerated at EA. As the Head of Human Resources, Toledano enforces “a very strict code of conduct”. She leads regular employee training initiatives to ensure a safe environment for everyone.
But according to Toledano, “Rather than blaming the majority just because they are the majority, the solution starts with us:women.There are not enough women to hire, in the engineering department. This needs to change soon, and for that, support is needed for educational institutions that encourage women to pursue STEM(Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics) careers.
But while Toledano is an unfortunate reality of our times, it should not stop women from entering the gaming industry.