Post by gbw on Jul 12, 2014 16:22:20 GMT -5
Yahoo! Games
The Girl Scouts are exploring an entirely different sort of cookie.
This week marked the organization's first video game programming course, with 25 New York area girls, ranging from 13 to 16, gathering to learn more about the ins and outs of creating electronic entertainment.
The program, sponsored by the Girl Scout Leadership Institute, was part of an increased push to encourage girls to consider jobs in the fields of science and technology. It follows last year's decision to create a video game merit badge for video game creation.
As part of the week-long course, students tackled several scenarios, including one tasking them to build a world based on what they had learned from the Girl Scouts.
Catherine Nolty, age 15, for instance, created a building that sold cookies, protected the environment and led the charge for equal rights.
"There's information for if I want to try to get a job," she said of the course. "It's kind of fun actually. ... It's better to learn you can do this yourself and that it's not just a male-dominated field."
That's the sort of thing the Girl Scouts are trying to make sure their members know as they begin to consider career choices. Technology fields, especially video games, have been regularly accused of being male-driven.
“My thesis is that it’s a male-dominated business,” Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president at EA Studios, told AP earlier this year, responding to the question of why so few games feature female protagonists. “I’m not sure that flies, but I think it overall may have something to do with it — that boys tend to design for boys and women for women.”
The push to get girls interested in video games early coincides with women becoming increasingly important to game makers. Some 48 percent of the gaming population is female, according to the ESA. And experts say if the disparity on the development side remains, women could drift to other hobbies.
The Girl Scouts are exploring an entirely different sort of cookie.
This week marked the organization's first video game programming course, with 25 New York area girls, ranging from 13 to 16, gathering to learn more about the ins and outs of creating electronic entertainment.
The program, sponsored by the Girl Scout Leadership Institute, was part of an increased push to encourage girls to consider jobs in the fields of science and technology. It follows last year's decision to create a video game merit badge for video game creation.
As part of the week-long course, students tackled several scenarios, including one tasking them to build a world based on what they had learned from the Girl Scouts.
Catherine Nolty, age 15, for instance, created a building that sold cookies, protected the environment and led the charge for equal rights.
"There's information for if I want to try to get a job," she said of the course. "It's kind of fun actually. ... It's better to learn you can do this yourself and that it's not just a male-dominated field."
That's the sort of thing the Girl Scouts are trying to make sure their members know as they begin to consider career choices. Technology fields, especially video games, have been regularly accused of being male-driven.
“My thesis is that it’s a male-dominated business,” Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president at EA Studios, told AP earlier this year, responding to the question of why so few games feature female protagonists. “I’m not sure that flies, but I think it overall may have something to do with it — that boys tend to design for boys and women for women.”
The push to get girls interested in video games early coincides with women becoming increasingly important to game makers. Some 48 percent of the gaming population is female, according to the ESA. And experts say if the disparity on the development side remains, women could drift to other hobbies.