Diversity & Inclusion in Collegiate Esports: Challenges, Opportunities, and Interventions

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
The report states that 'ninety percent of power five schools' were involved in collegiate esports in 2018, a figure attributed to Riot Games' head of collegiate, Michael Sherman.See it on page 8
02
Pew data cited in the report show that 83% of U.S. teen girls and 97% of teen boys play video games.See it on page 3
03
The report says women hold a significant percentage of leadership roles in Tespa and in founding campus clubs, but their participation as players is not proportional to how often they game.See it on page 8
04
Citing a meta-analysis by Christopher John Ferguson, the authors report that correcting for publication bias, studies found no support for a link between violent video game playing and higher aggression.See it on page 6
05
The authors recommend that organizations undertake a diversity audit and recognize that diversity alone is not enough without inclusion.See it on page 14
06
The report notes that women's tournaments have been organized around Counter-Strike and that the Women's Intel Challenge runs yearly at ESL's Intel Extreme Masters finals.See it on page 19
07
The report cites research showing that personal computer ownership is correlated with socio-economic status, so titles played only on PC may create unequal access.See it on page 9

Summary

AnyKey, an advocacy group supporting diversity, inclusion and equity in competitive gaming, published this October 2019 report on diversity and inclusion in collegiate esports. It traces esports from early campus competitions, such as Princeton's 2008 StarCraft intramural, to the present, and draws on Pew Research surveys and academic literature. Pew data cited in the report show that 92% of U.S. teen boys and 75% of teen girls have access to a gaming console, while 97% of boys and 83% of girls play video games. The report states that women are central to running collegiate esports but that their participation as players is not proportional to how often they game. It identifies barriers including material access, lack of representation, social isolation, discrimination, and harassment. The authors argue that Title IX applies to campus gaming and offer a 12-point checklist that includes diversity audits, codes of conduct, co-ed play, and moderation infrastructure. They also contend that women-only tournaments should be alternatives to, not replacements for, main events.