Career Attitudes of Men and Women Working in the Computer Games Industry

Prescott and Bogg's study examines how men and women in the computer games industry perceive career barriers, work-life balance, and progression. Its central argument is that long hours, relocation demands, and presenteeism culture have historically favoured young, unattached men, contributing to the severe underrepresentation of women, whose share of the UK games workforce fell from 12% in 2006 to 4% in 2009. The authors frame these patterns as embedded in organisational cultures rather than individual choices, and they situate their inquiry within broader research on undervalued female achievement and gendered access to mentoring, networks, and flexible working.

The empirical core rests on survey responses from 454 women and 93 men working in the industry, analysed using six-point Likert scales and t-tests. Women widely identified crunch time and long hours as obstacles to advancement, and women with career gaps reported lower earnings and satisfaction than those without interruptions. Notably, the findings complicate a simple gender divide: both men and women largely acknowledged a glass ceiling (72% of women and 66% of men), while most respondents of both genders also believed no covert barriers to women's achievement existed (72% of women and 74% of men). Attitudes varied significantly by country, role type, age, parental status, and gaming habits, suggesting heterogeneity within gender groups.

The study's principal contribution lies in examining male and female perspectives together, rather than focusing solely on women in a male-dominated field. Its conclusions are tempered by limitations: the English-only questionnaire and a sample concentrated in the UK and USA restrict generalisability. US respondents of both genders expressed more negative views on women's career barriers than UK respondents. The authors accordingly call for future research using more inclusive, cross-national designs to capture the cultural variation shaping careers in the games industry.