SOE Founds Scholarship For Female Developer
On Tuesday night of the Game Developer's Conference, the team from Sony Online Entertainment announced that they would be providing money for a scholarship that will see one potential female developer awarded $10,000 toward their education at The Art Institutes.
On Tuesday evening, MMORPG.com attended an SOE gathering at the Game Developer's Conference. There, the company announced a new initiative that will see a $10,000 scholarship for The Art Institutes awarded to a deserving female candidate. On top of the tuition money, the winning candidate will receive a paid internship at one of SOE's numerous studios.
The purpose of the scholarship program is to try to draw more women into the gaming industry, an industry that is currently male dominated. It is the hope that the scholarship, named G.I.R.L. (Gamers in Real Life) will eventually help to close the gender gap that currently exists on the development side of the industry.
According to a press release, Torrie Dorrell (VP of Global Sales and Marketing for SOE) had this to say:
"It's no secret to female gamers. Women are out there in significant numbers, playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters, etc. What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games and we hope G.I.R.L. can help support this program. SOE's program is a key component of our G.I.R.L. initiative because the scholarship will be the gateway for one student into this field of expertise. I invite other publishers to join us in sup porting this initiative."
The scholarship announcement was accompanied by results of a survey that polled current female attendees of the Game Art and Design, Visual and Game Programming and Visual Effects and Motion Graphics programs at The Art Institutes. The survey included questions about how often the women play games, what positions they would like to enter at a game company upon graduation, and more. Below, please find some of the highlights of the survey:
Gaming Hours Per Week
Of the women surveyed, 38% of the respondents said that they played between six and ten hours a week, followed by 23% saying that they play between 11 and 20 hours. 19% answered that they spent more than 20 hours a week playing games. Everyone else falls into the category of less than 5 hours and an "I'm not sure" answer.
Jobs After Graduation
When asked what type of work the women would like to find after graduation from The Art Institutes, the largest number seemed to be focused in, not surprisingly, the art areas of the business with Modeler, Character Modeler, Texture Artist and Artist leading the pack and FX Artist and Video Postproduction Artist bringing up the rear.
The Perception that Fewer Women Enter Gaming Because it is Male Dominated
This last question seems to speak most directly to the issue at hand and supports the reason for this scholarship. On a scale from one to seven, seven being strongly agree and one being an answer of strongly disagree, 61% of respondents answered between five and seven when asked" "How much do you agree or disagree that fewer women enter the gaming industry because it is perceived to be male-dominated?"
While the topic of female gamers is one that many gaming fans have read about and talked about many times before, this survey and the scholarship that it supports look toward bringing more women into the development of video games that, even looking around here at the Game Developer's Conference, is certainly male-dominated. The result of a more gender-balanced industry, it is hoped, will result in the development of games that appeal to a broader spectrum of potential female gamers as well as the male gamers that still make up the majority of the industry's player base.
For those who might be interested, applications open on April 1st, 2008. Applicants must be currently enrolled in as a student at an Art Institutes school and must submit an in-game design, concept art and two essays. The deadline comes up on May 31st, 2008.
Im getting tired of Being a White Middle aged male....
Doing it one way is wrong, doing it the other way is just as bad.
Amen to that!
The world is just one big politically correct mess isn't it?
One Question , will there be a swimsuit competition?
So, that's why SWG just got a female Assistant Producer :P
... sucks being a white male. :p
Rumor has it they're just doing it so that they have someone around to make them a sandwich.
More sandwiches = more hours at work = better games
Celebrate this diversity you facist pigs
yay, more "There are girl gamers too you know!" being pushed into our faces. what bullshit.
Because that's exactly what a woman needs in a male-dominant business... more discrimination. "Yeah, I got this grant not because I'm talented and intelligent, but because I'm a girl!"
Here's a novel idea... how about setting up a fund for someONE who is deserving of such a grant?
Interesting ideas. Execution of it is...questionnable. Not too sound like a jerk but... If you have women and men working on the same project, do you think the project will be better than if you have solely men or solely women on it? LOL. Your employees will be more motivated, but perhaps for wrong reasons.
I don't think it will change much. You need the lead, the drive, the ideas of these "particuliar" aspect. But the basic-work could be done by monkeys. See, many of the WORST products for "girls" are designed by "other girls". What you need, it is the drive, the lead, the ideas. Putting a label of "game designer" and forcing that person to "design" from 8 to 16 won't bring the expected results. The ideas, the lead, the drive of the game...it has to be creative. It may be completed in 1 hour...or in 300 days of refining 1 idea...there is no way to control that.
Most "creative employees" will have perhaps the concepts and ideas for 1 game if they are lucky...2 or 3 if they are exceptional...4+ is a legend. Sid Meier only has 1 game concept which he refines...and this is awesome and we all like him a LOT. You cannot command love.
The main problem here, it is that guys...are more likely to write it down, because we are simple folks. Girls, been social goddess, well, they will harvest their ideas in another way...and getting them on paper will be...harder. Writing in itself won't be harder, but the process of wanting to write THAT down on paper will be harder. See, an average guy like me, I write how many ideas soo far on this website? I can't count them, and good luck if you try. Making a girl thinks like a guy, will only result in having a girl that think like a guy. The gathering methods are lacking, for social ideas. :)
And for god's sake...don't you even dare thinking that better design ideas will come from school, they won't. Best design ideas might very well be in the beggar you almost stomp today.
White males sleep on mattresses stuffed with money since they were babies. Didn't you know that?
Now why would a white male need a scholarship when ceo's of major corporations are probably stopping by the house or calling nonstop to recruit them merely because they are white. Just the other day I had 15 offers from various high level manager types that heard I was white and decided to recruit me. They said they need more white men and could I please accept: they will pay me $1 million per month just to sit at a desk and be white.
I turned them down though. Being a white male, I am so rich and well connected that I don't need money working a job. My ferari and 10k square foot house is comp'd by society which gives me free stuff every day, so working would just be a distraction. This is the curse of being white and male in our society.
HAHA my thoughts exactly!!!!
Well stated ^^
I am sure that if the advert was for men only..... then someone would have already sue them,, but it seems that discriminating men is ok
Once long ago I also was new freshly graduated student with a first class degree in animation and game design, had also an industry award for my animation .it used to be my dream to work in the game industry .. ... but guess what i never managed to get a job ......
Every single game Company was asking me for at least 2 years expirience in the game industry or least one realised title which of course, as a student did not have ...
after 2 years of trying i had enough and went back to uny to get MA in film industry ,
at the moment i am directing a film and I love my job ... but I tell you men good luck with getting that gaming job ....for someone does not just simply get in because he is talented or has many ideas..firstly they dont want someone with ideas ..gaming companies are too scaried to invest in something new ...they d rathar make a game similar to any game alrerady out there making money ... and it simple as that ...
Anyway what I am traying to say you need to know someone withing the industry or be lucky to start from the bottom ........
ps .. oh i forgot here is the new one ; to be a woman he he he he
I don't know how many women mmo devs their are. I don't know how many woman mmo devs their are at SOE if any at the moment. With Sonys rep if there is none maybe thats what they need a womans eyes and creativity. Either a woman will cave like the men there and make a crappy game or they will tell the truth and say "you messed up on quite a few games, let me make a game and leave me alone". Thats what someone needs to do at SOE and if they get fired then maybe she'll sue for discrimination. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this.
Can America's businesses finally move past race and gender? This gender-based scholarship might have sounded progressive back in 1968, but this is 2008, People.
How about a scholarship for the most promising student, regardless of race or gender?
I hate that in the Game Industry 98% of the applicants are male, but 30% of the people who get jobs are female. Most often times not even the most or even a contender in the most competent applicants. In general if 98% of the applicants are male, we should see 98% of the jobs taken by males in a purely equal setting. However, we aren't seeing this. It isn't even who is the best worker. Its just she is a woman we must hire her mentality. I think the reason most SOE Games suck artistically and in animation is because they hire based on sex rather then actual competence.
If one is confident in ones abilities the money isn't the issue, the gender isn't the issue. $10k is likely to help the recipient out for a few semesters and might give her the incentive to make a decision and make a career choice, to change her life for the better. If you as whatever race or gender are destined to enter that field, you will. Either way you will benefit in your world.
Dont be stupid ...
A good game is a good game , and a good animation is a good animation, no matter was it done by female or male .. what SOE needs is talented people with skills ... not matter what gender or race...
Taking a woman over more talented male/ and vice versa .. is pure insanity ..
and what do you say to talented male ;
Sorry you are a great animator but we are looking for a woman today ,even though she is not as talented,nor can she animate .....but hey Industry needs more woman ....
Conclusion yes I agree they need more woman ; but not on account of discriminating talented male artists /animators and programmers, it should be equal oportunity here for all ,,, and who ever is better should get the job no matter of what race or sex... because the quality of the product is what matters not the fact that person doing it had a pair of boobs/balls
as for not having more woman in gaming industry , it is not a male problem that girls choose fashion design over animation and programming
I know for one, race will never change. People and Businesses are making too much money and kickbacks for their efforts in making the white people feel guilty for being white.
Yep its no longer about having the best people, or the most qualified, its making sure you have 4 blacks, 4 latinos, 3 asians, 5 women, and 2 white guys.
Lets make sure our office is a perfectly balanced bag of skittles! not to many greens, not to many blues, and screw the reds!
Political correctness is so counter productive its unreal.
Let me get this straight. We are going to hire x minority at x percent so that they have an advantage and can stop being dependent on the y man who has all the power. Yet in doing so, all your doing is making the x man more dependent on the y mans guilt for being a y man.
*shakes head*
Lets go back to the whole time honored tradition of if your better your hired. I dont care if your purple with three heads and married to your sister.
that is apparent
LOL so we are in agreement then.
It just felt right quoting this, I mean if they weren't trying to descriminate with this they are, you cant try not to descriminate without descriminating yourself... True that guys... see I just did it I said guys not people... when will it end?
I'm not 100% sure but 10,000 will not pay for their full education. The illinois institute of art's web design program costs 15,848. They are probably paying 78,215.
Also, they need to be already accepted into the program in order to earn the scholarship. In order to get into the program there is probably a application fee and a portfolio submission - so they are there because they earned it not because they are female.
Bottom line this is probably a ploy to bring females (something SOE has been trying to get for years) to play SOE games. Institute of art is one of the biggest franchise schools in America and a simple $10,000 drop brings all sorts of girl friendly publicity to all areas of the US.
The paid internship is the part that bothers me, in the words of Admiral Ackbar "IT'S A TRAP!"
What is wrong with funding a scholarship for THE MOST QUALIFIED potential developer? I am completely against basing anything on race or gender.
There are absolutely NO barriers keeping women out of software development or information technology. The reason why there aren't more women in these fields is they aren't as interested in them as men are, for probably the same reason women aren't as interested in games and MMO games as men are. IMHO, I think women are foolish for largely passing up these fields, because the industry is so (foolishly) determined to cast off it's "geeky male dominated" image that most companies will hire any female with a pulse, regardless of qualification.
I recently went through a process of hiring some interns for my department (IT, network administration). We had ONE, yes, ONE female applicant. We were under some pressure to try to hire a female if we could but we couldn't justify it, she was far less qualified than her competitors. Had any other women even bothered applying, one would certainly have been hired. Hint: Correctly spelling the name of the job you are applying for helps (true story).
If SOE or any other development house funded a scholarship for a MALE developer, based on gender, there would be outrage.
Ditto should be true if the shoe is on the other foot. I am completely against ANY preferences based on anything except qualifications. Basing hiring practices on anything other than simply trying to get the best talent you possibly can leads to your team not being the best it can be.
Same thing goes for the industry as a whole. If the MMO and IT industries in the United States starts hiring people based on balancing races and sexes rather than qualification, they will cease to lead the rest of the world.
Discrimination based on anything other than qualification is incredibly dumb because it dooms your company to be forever drawing from an inferior pool of talent and falling behind competitors. No business is any better than the quality of it's employees. If SOE has been aggressively practicing "affirmative action" and hiring people based on racial or gender quotas rather than qualification, perhaps this accounts for some of their managerial and development quality deficiencies.
This is correct.
What is worse, it's an insult to the beneficiary.
The woman who received this scholarship might have the talent to be the next Raph Koster. Then again, she might not have the talent to be the next Blixtev. Either way, her sex shouldn't have had anything to do with getting a scholarship or not, and there is a stigma associated with being the beneficiary of a set aside like this.
Just on a quick note, it may seem sexist that they are doing this to draw females in, but it's not. There are laws out there which require a certain amount of people from a class in their. I know even from my job, they need so many males/females/whites/blacks/natives/asians/etc. This is law. They would be shut down if they don't have enough of the mix in their workplace.
That's the governments solution to racism/sexism. Mandatory laws that a certain percentage of people need to be hired.
That is not true. The law requires that you NOT discriminate based on race, sex, religion, etc. But corporations like to use quotas though so their EEO reports look good. This is done mostly for PR purposes, and it's one reason why large corporations generally are less efficient than small ones. Indeed, corps HAVE been sued successfully by even "eeevil" white males for discrimination when not hired because of quotas. It's a catch 22, government agencies actually WANT you to quota hire, but the law doesn't protect you if you do.
The reason that more corps don't get sued over this is two fold: Firstly, there is a social pressure against it (the stigma of white males having all the advantages, etc). Secondly, people who are more qualified than others WILL end up getting a job.
Fact of the matter is this: If it's agreed that discriminating for employment based on race, sex, or religion instead of qualifications/talent is a bad thing, then WHY don't we END all discrimination based on race, sex, and religion? Set asides, female and minority ONLY scholarships, etc ARE, IN FACT, acts of discrimination based on race and sex, and only serve to prolong the problem. As someone else in this thread stated, it's not 1968 anymore. We need to "get over" the 1960's as a society in the worst way. There have been multiple generations since who have grown up accustomed to integration and with women being afforded the same opportunities as men.'
So not only are you making up numbers, you're completely ignoring the fact that some women *gasp* may be better or more qualified than some men.
Now I completely understand WHY there are scholarships and laws in place that favor women or non-whites... while there are people who go "stop judging based on gender/race" and can actually stick to their guns, there are a lot of people who are sexist and racist (as you can clearly see in this string as well). So such things exist to protect people from those unable to see people for who they are and not who they were born as.
Have you ever seen the SOE development teams? They have a much larger proportion of women then actual women applicants. I agree it shouldn't be about the percentage of who applies but the actual talent. However, from many SOE Games it should be obvious the talent wasn't the main concern by the hiring department.
When I saw this headline i read it this way "SOE desperate as hell for positive attention" If they where at all serious they would dump millions into a already existent fund.
lol true.
I'm.. actually kind of twisted up inside on this one..and I'm a female..and I went to school for Game Design & Development...and yea the 10k would of been a help but..I don't really think its fair to offer it to someone because they're a female. Hopefully besides being female the canditates have to atleast have talent & drive to want to be in the industry...but still it just....it doesnt' sit right with me ... if you want to be in the industry you want to be in the industry..a scholarship for a lucky hopefully talented female just seems kinda lame.
When I went to school It was me and 1 other girl. We didn't need a scholarship or encouragement to want to get into what we were there to do. We were there because we had passion & drive and we succeeded at that. (granted im not in the game industry at the moment but sometimes family tragedy can change the direction your looking in for a while).
By the time we graduated..there were atleast 10 more girls in the classes beneath us. For a long time it was believed we're rare but I think as games become more and more apart of our culture its no longer rare. There's just not as many of us that have that passion or drive to want to make games.. not yet anyway. It takes passion, drive, and talent to get into the industry not your sexual organs.
If a girl sucks as a dev she sucks as a dev and not because she's a girl.
There always is a lot more pride in doing it yourself the hard way.
I'm an "eevil" white male. I grew up poor in Appalachia, and did not have the money to finish college for years. But I did it myself. I was not eligible for many scholarships because of the color of my skin and my gender, despite graduating high school with honors.
I taught myself my computer skills and have worked in IT for 15 years now. I've gone from working in an IT outsourcing sweat shop to Senior Engineer and Assistant IT Manager for a sizable company.
No one ever gave me ANYTHING for growing up poor, the color of my skin, or my gender. My accomplishments are truly my own. I pity those who can't say the same.
You know, considering that white male heterosexual christians are the only group of people who can be customarily and acceptably discriminated against, could we be the next civil rights movement?
The sad thing is... people would show up talking about slavery and segregation and how white males don't have it hard, as if you're some sort of rare species that's impervious to all pain and suffering. Oh, and you obviously owned slaves. Time machines and all...
At the same time, you shouldn't pity anyone for aid they received. Everyone faces life differently. And as other people have pointed out, this 10K will just leave the girl who receives it in LESS debt. Just because someone travels a road with a few less bumps in it doesn't lessen the fact that they're traveling it and making their own accomplishments. (It doesn't lessen your experiences either though.)
What I find amusing is that the girl who receives this will probably be extremely happy for the help and not realize that such an award has caused so much debate ^^;;
Good deal.
Hopefully she can takes Smedley's place in the future.
SOE could use a nice 180 flip-around.
I don't get it... this is a possitive action from SOE and all the people start talking negative things about it... SOE so far has the best game out there a lot of people who have played says it. Unfurtanetly it comsumes a lot of time. I share the same opinion about SOE needing a new direction and to returns to its root, altough smedley was part of the begining of EQ. It doesn't change the fact that SOE needs a new direction.
I retract my earlier statements. The Scholarship is called G.I.R.L. Gamers in Real Life. MMORPG missed something "awarded to a deserving female candidate". This isn't true its open to Male and Female applicants.
I think people are totally missing the point of this scholarship. It is to help get more females into the computrer gaming industry. There needs to be a balance of males and females so that the games like MMO's cater to both genders. Face it, we women play these games too, but, a lot of MMO's are designed and programmed and the graphics are mostly done by males. If there were incentive to get females into the business like this scholarship, maybe more women would consider a career in the industry. I'd seriously consider going back to school and getting a career in this industry...but I make to much stinking money doing what I do now! LOL!
But I am glad to see SOE do something like this.
Insulting people won't support your argument.
*Telecaster voice*
THis just in, an alming statistic is announced today. Entertainment conglomerate Sony ONline Entertainment announced that 98% of all the male employees at it's various studios are in fact single. Sony announces a plan to change "such an alarming and disturbing state of affairs."
More on this later...
There are mmos designed for women, most of which have done badly. The Sims Online, All those dancing ones, as well as the casual type games were you earn money to play dress up. Also like I said earlier, the proportion of male-female in the Game Industry is really closer to even then the actual amount of male-female gamers.
What is stopping women from entering the gaming industry, and in more general terms, the technology industry?
Is there some mean old white man standing there at the door turning women away?
Nope.
Is there some mean old white man stopping women from entering college?
Nope, in fact women far outnumber men in colleges. More women are receiving college degrees than men now. So if anyone needs more encouragement in going to college and getting through it, it's men, not women.
So, WHY are women underrepresented in game development in particular, and information technology in general?
Could it be... That the majority of women want to do SOMETHING ELSE with their lives? You don't see as many men going into public relations, or (as someone else pointed out) fashion design as women do, does that mean that men are being discriminated against and need special set asides to get more into the field?
No, that would be ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as this is. There IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to balance out industries based on race or sex. This is a free country, people are allowed to choose their vocations. So what if they choose one over another? The end result is that you encourage people by throwing money at them to go into fields they probably don't want to go into, just because there is money there, which gets you people into a field who will never be as good at it as those who really wished to be in it as a life's vocation.
There is absolutely no need for sex specific set asides or scholarships at all, particularly for women. If you wanted to buy the arguments in favor of sex based set asides, then, in fact, MEN should be the target instead of women, to balance out the number of women in colleges with an equal number of men.
But it's "feel good" PC, and let's face it, we are hardwired to hold the door open for the lady, aren't we?
SWG Pre-CU actually had a LOT of women play it. Why? Because they could have prominent roles and NOT have to go into combat. They could be creative. They could fiddle with designs of clothing and colors. They could dance and entertain. They could mix all that WITH combat and still be effective.
Ironically, it was the "female friendly" parts of SWG that were crippled by the CU and then eradicated by the NGE.
Frankly, I don't think women want games targeted at women any more than I want a game made to target men. I think they, like me, just want GOOD games. Which SOE, and most of the rest of the industry aren't producing right now.
first lets start off with "everyone tolerates everyone, sexism is gone, racism is gone, let us not prefer non-white-non-male people over anyone else, because nature will balance it out anyway":
nope, no sexism anymore in this world (actually the quote is more likely to demonstrate sheer stupidity instead of sexism, but still fits)
it's amazing how many guys here start crying around that they are treated unfairly because they're white and everyone else get's preferred, <Mod edit>
you can write whatever you want in here, you can write you were a great student, no one wanted you because you were too white, but actually you don't have a clue why you didn't get a job, or maybe you're just lying, no one will ever be able to know. this thread is one big fucking whine-fest of anyone who hasn't gotten something or feels like he will miss out because of the big mean conspiracy against white males.
let's get to the talent talent talent point. there have been so many people in the gaming industry who were sooo "talented", but oh my, they never actually released anything worth a crap. talent means nothing at all, obviously people didn't get that in their head yet, there can be a huge bunch of very intelligent and talented people working on something and still it will fail miserably. like with everything in life it's not that easy and if you really think it is, you're plain naive.
lastly and most importantly: soe does not have to do what you like, when they wanna try to get more women into their dev teams, they will just do so, it's their company, their business, they have the risk and the reward. they do not have to justify why they are doing something you might not like, they will do it and risk losing you (though most people on this thread don't wanna have to do anything with soe anyway, so whatever)
life isn't fair, never has been, never will be and never can be. get over it.
How is it that $10k is such a special number with SOE. Last year they only gave $10k to Austin Habitate for Humanity and now they are going to pay some hottie S10k to hang out with them while they oogle her. /Borat VERY NICE!
My point exactly. Look at SWG pre-CU and you'd see a great game, a huge sand-box game that us females could really get into. It was about the clothes, the houses, the dancing, designing and creating and I loved it. I wish we would see a game like that again, but I do not think we will - atleast not in the for seeable future. I miss playing SWG and it is to bad SOE didn't just fix what they had instead of trying to re-create what was not broken. SWG is not even a 10th of the game it use to be. ::sighs::
I'm trying to figure out this 'us females could really get into" personally I hated most of those things. I mean designing a cool house was neat but it wasn't something that would make me want to play a game. I'm not into playing seamstress, cook, house or dancing whore. I like playing adventurer and hero. Guide and dangerous excitement finder. And if someone screws with me...I enjoy being able to wait for them to become PvPable so I can polish them off. I know I'm not the only girl gamer that has similiar thoughts.
I knew plenty of SWG guys that loved SWG for all the customization and they were anything but feminine in any way shape or form. Infact most of the criers over the loss of SWG and all its customization goodness are male players.
Thats the thing about us females...we're extremely versitale in the things we like and squeezing us into a box is like rewinding time to when we were stuck in country houses birthing babies. Game Designers have a hard time shoving us into a box that fits because we all like different things.
Personally I think you just stereotyped our own gender..seriously..if you think games like SWG are getting killed because of male influence your really wrong. Maybe im just missreading the intent of your post so if I am I appologize :)
SWG was killed because of idiot corporate folks *coughs Lucas Arts* thought copying WoW with a game thats already got a population was a good idea. Thats bad business and bad design and has nothing to do with sexual preference.
personally I like non sandbox games better...I just dont like them to be super simpliton WoW games either. I'm more of the EQ1, DAoC type. I like a little freedom in my path but I like to know there's something to do that I dont have to spend tons of hours creating for myself. I just dont have the hours in the day to be satisfied with what I'd be able to accomplish in a single game session in a sandbox game. Sand box games are great for people with time..or atleast patience..something..I lack at times.
The solution is simple. If some of you "men" are so up in arms about being excluded and how you fear in the future of the game industry, that those regardless of gender and having talent not be passed up. Well here is what you can do. There is enough of you here to get together and donate about $200 to $500 and create a fund of $10k. Then you all form a group among yourselves, have a meeting and go over applicants. After that you chose the one you think is most qualified and you solve your own problem. Put your money and ideas where your mouth is and can do the most good because talking won't get you anywhere. So if you believe in what you say then get out there and do something about it and change the world.
Who would have known, that one girl could have such a huge impact on the whole gaming industry, that a puny $10k and an internship would so radically alter the way of life for the entire world?
/sarcasm
10k is a drop in the bucket and note that they did not specify how long that internship was going to last. Might be 1 semester. Might be 4 years. They might hire her if gosh, she was actually an asset and could bring something to the company. Or they might just discretely drop her like a rock and not actually hire her at all after she finishes school, leaving her with still tons of debt.
Seriously... get over it.
They are not bound by law in this situation.
The reason there is so called "reverse discrimination" is because white males are default discriminated in favor at all times, even today. It's automatic, it isn't even thought about.
I"m a white male, and the mewiling of my peers about how they're being "discriinated against" because they don't get first crack at everything sickens me.
SOE is looking to get some new perspectives. Good for them.
Most scholarships have a basic qualification based on need of the individual. But guess what, even scholarships based on need are discriminatory since it favors the poorer class instead of the upper class. For a truly non-discriminatory scholarship (or application) it would be based solely on talent.
But guess what? That means those born of wealth are going to get the higher percentage of scholarships, better jobs, etc. I know this from experience. I'm in a highly competitive field along with three friends who come from wealthy families. We all graduated from a University that is #1 in this field. The problem: while we all search for work in this competitive field, my three friends are being subsidized by their respective families. They don't have to get a regular job to pay for rent or food until an opportunity arises. As for me, well a job at some burger joint isn't out of the question in the near future as the savings I have evaporates. I got into this university based on pure talent, only to see my future eroded away by my financial reality. But I do fight on nonetheless.
So those of you bemoaning 'equality', or some idealistic notion of it should realize that it never exists, and never will. The only question is whether you will allow yourself to become a victim. The moment you convince yourself you're a victim, then you're lost.
Wow. This thread shows exactly why there are fewer women in the game industry. The kinds of things some of you people said, the hostility - it's unnecessary. Few of you are female, and therefor you do not know the barriers that exist for women. You don't. Just because your friend's sister says it's easy doesn't mean it's true.
I have been taking computer courses since 2002, and I've been the only girl in a room of 40 guys. I've been the butt of jokes, rude suggestions.. But I'm a good programmer, and a good computer scientist, and at the end of the day it's not because I'm female. However, being female adds stress. I have to worry about my appearance more because I'm stared at constantly. Do you know what that's like? Have you ever had a stalker? It's actually not fun to have to worry that you're being followed when you're walking home after class.
Look at some of the replies in this thread. Boobs, swimsuit competition. Is this the 1940s? It's a boys' club, and *that* is the biggest reason why girls have a hard time in this field. When I first began programming a MUD in the late 1990s, I was just a kid... about 14 years old. I asked for help with some programming, and I signed my name, which is an obvious girl's name. I got a half dozen vicious replies, one of which told me to "stop programming and go polish my a******." I remember those words so clearly. Very cold, hateful. I just wanted to learn how to add in new races.
Then consider the baggage with being female in a public school. In primary school, they really do encourage girls to do creative things like art vs. science or math. It's very common for a math teacher to simply avoid challenging girls. Is it the 10 year old girl's fault? No, it's not. Sure, she might overcome that, but she's starting at a disadvantage. As a guy, you may not have ever noticed. That's the real discrimination - the insidious discrimination that the majority never notices. For me, I went on to get two advanced degrees in science fields. But women were still less than 30% of my graduating class. I ended up getting a free ride to grad school not on the basis of my gender or anything else, but because of my work. But it was hard, and I have to post-pone marriage for a bit, and definitely children until probably my late 30s.
Guys don't have to worry about that as much. Sure, they have to worry about things - everyone does. But rarely do you get treated the way some of these boys are talking on this thread. It's a shame, and truly the first page or two are just embarrassing and only prove the point that this scholarship is needed.
I was actually thinking the same thing when I read those comments. Ironic, isn't it?
Its true , things have not changed that much sense the 1950s. As a matter of fact women have lost some ground sense the male backlash of the 1990s. The kind of hate women remarks all along this thread shows it.
It is not uncommon for scholarships to be given to young potentials where there is a deficit in a field. White males traditionally are first pick for companies because they will likely get along well with the current team because they are also male.
What SOE is doing is simply taking advantage of the growing awareness that women are playing more and more. I have been in entire guilds consisting of women and met other women all the time in eq, eq2, wow , lotr. What SOE has become aware of is that more and more of their female players are speaking out in objection to forum trolls insisting that women do not play.
Its simply a legitimate PR ploy and its only one candidate who is already in school for the gaming industry and will just get a leg up on her student loans that will cost at least twice as much.
On another note it does not make the male player population or gaming industry look good with such a negative attitude toward women. Especially after the EA Mythic survey scandal last year where anyone filling out their survey who was not male and below a certain age was bumped from it saying they didn't need anymore information from them.
Second I Do think its Good that they are Dooing this. There Needs to Be More to do in MOST MMo's, And the More types of People the More Ideas can Flow.
Third I Like Being a White Male. The Middle age is Getting Old tho. (Sorry For the Pun)
Forth to the People that say the Womens Movement has lost steam. Thank Britney and all that were Befor her. The Shere Number of Little Tramps Running around today Scares the Crap outa Me. (Dont get the Wrong Idea tho, the Male Parts LOVE it). Im Verry glad to Not be a Father of a Girl ATM Because of the crap thats going around me today.
The Womens Movement has had Several Massive Implacations In Todays world. Some for the Bad, Others For the Better. The Idea Of Descrimanation Of all Types Is Bad. A Honest Days Wage For a Honest days Work Should Be the same For ALL People. (That said, Public schools are Churning Out Lazzy Basterds that Don't want to work But Expect More pay For it).
Again Sorry about starting a Flame war here But a Few things needed to be said.
This thread started out full of win, and then that win went away.
Being the only female in a computer class of all males adds pressure so you think you deserve special treatment? Where's the special treatment for a male taking a cosmetology or nursing course? It goes both ways. It should go neither.
I could go on, but this thread is so full of male-bashing the discrimination should be obvious.
You don't fight supposed discrimination with more discrimination. I've got news for all the women who think being the only female in a computer class is so terrible... NO ONE CARES. Seriously, they don't. The males might be more inclined to think about getting you alone on their couch since you're the only female around and might act a little brash due to that, but it takes a real oddball to actually care if you ace the class or not.
The first couple pages may sound like a "boys club," but they're not. They are those posters' way of pointing out the obvious discrimination that goes on every day. Some of them later wussed out under pressure is all.
The advocates of "diversity" actually perpetuate discrimination. Seeing individuals as groups or races or sexes is inherently discriminatory.
There cannot be equality until people realize ANY discrimination is bad. Any "equal righter" who promotes a gender-only or x-color-only advantage is two-faced. If you claim you want equal rights but then are for special treatment based on race or sex, you're a hypocrite and you're full of crap.