REPORT: 22% Of Game Developers Are Female
While female game developers are on the rise - with the percentage of female developers more than double what it was in 2009 - the numbers are still disheartening with females making up only 22% of game developers.
The gender inequality across STEM fields has been discussed a lot recently, with Obama stepping in to urge girls and women to pursue careers in tech. There is some hope with more women enrolling in STEM-related college programs, but the change will surely take some time.
The gaming world within tech has had some more noticeable issues of gender inequality beyond just the breakdown of developers. Several game developers and companies like Ubisoft and Capcom have failed to include more female characters in their games; some have cited story reasons, while others have claimed technical reasons (the latter excuse, in some developers' opinions, is totally bogus).
Maybe if there were more female developers, it would be easier to increase the number of female characters in those games.
However, if the percentage of female game developers increases at the same pace from the last five years, we could theoretically be close to a 50-50 breakdown within the next two - only time will tell.
Some of the other interesting findings in IGDA's recent report show that almost 50% of developers earn less than $50,000 annually, and 39% said they would want to leave the field because they "want a better quality of life."