Inspiring Girls in STEM Nia Wearn

Senior Lecturer in Computer Games DesignAward Leader for Gameplay Design & Production

I am a gamer, and I love technology• I teach Games Design at Staffordshire University

• I’m a heavy user of Social Media and new technologies

• I’m also a games designer, a comic book nerd and a Sci-Fi fan girl

• I run the largest Global Game Jam event in Europe

• I was voted one of the top 100 women in the UK games industry

• I started designing websites when I was 13 – and I followed my passion for design and technology to where I am now

BSC (Hons)Interactive

Entertainment TechnologyMe!

Encouraging mum

Techie dad

Older brother

My background

MADigital Games

GCSEs• English lang.• English lit.• Double Science• Welsh lang.• Welsh lit.• Maths• History• Graphics• Media Studies A Levels

• Computing• Sociology• Archaeology• English Literature

I don’t blame you for not caring about studying technology• From what I gather

nothing much has moved on in these fields since I studied them over a decade ago

• Rates are declining for a number of reasons

• In that time technology has moved on massively

Changes are coming, Computing will enter the National Curriculum, but

it won’t benefit you.

The T stands for Technology

•Everyone in this room uses technology

• You have mobile phones & Social Media accounts

• You are consumers and users of technology

I also know that this isn’t going to change – the future is bright for technology – and for

jobs in technology

You are a new breed of technology user

You shouldn’t just be satisfied with being a consumer – you

should be helping to design the technology, software &

hardware that you’ll be buying in the future.

I Games(I’m actually a hard core strategy gamer)

I do research into how you can use game mechanics in non game situations- Awareness of water in Africa- Changing Energy Consumption- Big Changes in organisations- Helping students find their way around

campus- Helping young Europeans learn about Minoan

Culture

I teach about Games Design, documentation, Level Design, Games Marketing, Gameplay Applications &

Experimental Games.

How my beloved industry treats women & girls is beyond disappointing

How my beloved industry treats women & girls is beyond disappointing

Better games will only come from a diversity of developers

Labour MP Chi Onwurah says only 6 per cent of UK ICT workers are female

"My figures show that only 6 per cent of those who work in ICT in the UK games industry are women, despite the fact that they make up 50 per cent of those who play the games."

No one in this room, if they play games now, are suddenly going to stop playing them

(It is starting to get a little bit better)More and more developers are thinking about how they

can appeal to female audiences, or use female characters to tell exciting

new stories

Careers in Games?

Making Games

Art

Design

Code Everything you see, hear, experience in a

game has been made by someone

Careers in Games? – what you really need

Core Skills

Communication

Problem Solving

Adaptablility Games get better, and group dynamics change the moment there’s a woman in the team

These are neither male or female skills – but people

skills

What will happen if you don’t pursue careers in STEM?

The honest answer is nothing

• Nothing will get better

• Men will continue to earn more the women

• The skills gap will continue to widen

• Your horizons will continue to narrow

I want you to be the next generation’s role models• Growing up I didn’t have anyone to inspire me in my career

• My students and alumni have a much better idea of the few women making a name for themselves in games – but it’s a small pool to draw from.

• Who is going to be the inspiration for my 9 year old niece, who wants to be a Games Designer and make the next Minecraft?

The one thing to remembered

If anyone, ever, tells you you’re not capable of doing something,

or it’s not the career for you because they have an outdated stereotype in their heads it’s up

to you to prove the wrong.

Thank you for listening.