“Females aren’t a large part of the gaming populace, and especially not as developers or designers.”
This is a comment seen on a variety of big gaming publications on the web today. Some commenters are more vocal about the fact more and more women are becoming part of the video gaming industry. These vocal commenters are usually against more women being apart of it. But what do gaming companies think of having women developers and designers?
One gaming company, Sony Online Entertainment, wants to see more women entering the world of game design. Seven years ago, SOE implemented the G.I.R.L. Scholarship Program. G.I.R.L. stands for Gamers in Real Life. This competition provides a $10,000 scholarship award prize. What makes the grand prize even better is that SOE offers a paid intern position, up to 10 weeks, in San Diego.
According to Laura Naviaus, Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing at SOE:
The G.I.R.L. Scholarship aims to be the first step towards empowering bright careers for young women in the video game industry. By helping to create more opportunities for women in game design, we are helping to shepherd fresh perspectives and new ideas into our industry.
Before you guys start getting upset and asking where’s the program for dudes, this program is open for both female and male submissions. If you feel your concept art is up to the task to submit to SOE, feel free to apply as well. Past winners have had opportunities to work with Planetside 2 and Everquest II.
The 2014 program closed submissions last week, but this gives interested parties till next January when submissions reopen to get ready to apply. You can find out more information on the G.I.R.L. program at their website, including their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
