Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects

Abstract

The common observation that women and girls not only play fewer digital games than men and boys, but also generally spend less time playing games, could be attributed to a simple matter of taste. If females prefer other kinds of entertainment, so be it. Men tend to prefer fi shing, too, and are noticeably more enthusiastic about football and model railways than most women. Although it might be interesting to investigate the social and cultural causes of these gender stereotypes, there is no real necessity to fully understand, let alone try to change, the demographics of football fandom, for example. In contrast, gender participation in digital games parallels professional participation, namely that women are as underrepresented among players of digital games as they are in information technology (IT) careers (American Association of University Women [AAUW], 2000; National Center for Women and Information Technology [NCWIT], 2007). This chapter discusses how this parallel might be understood and utilized for change by looking at how gender and equity issues are impacted by digital game content and contextual factors.