MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
UK video effects firm Carbon Digital is offering a new mentoring scheme to help get more young women into games development.
Founder Sue McHugh has worked in games since the mid-’90s, with experience from Sony Psygnosis and Rage Software, and is now using that experience to help diversify the industry’s workforce.
The initiative comes in time for International Women’s Day, which takes place this Sunday (March 6th).
McHugh will be working with universities and other organisations to talk to young women about how they can secure a career in games development. She can be contacted for advice via sue.mchugh@carbondigital.com.
Carbon Digital – which has upped its efforts int eh games space over the past year – has an unusually high count of women among its team, but sadly this can’t be said for the rest of the industry. Develop research shows that only 15 per cent of UK developers are female.
“Thankfully, things are changing in the business and we are seeing more and more women joining the games development world – and also taking more senior roles,” she said.
“Initiatives like MCV’s Women in Games are doing a brilliant job of highlighting the incredible female talent in the industry, too.
“However, recent research suggests that women still only account for around 16 per cent of the business. At Carbon Digital we’re incredibly unusual in that we have more females than males on our team. That wasn’t a conscious decision, but it shows that there are some very talented women artists out there – some of whom may be struggling to get into the market; some of whom may be shy about considering the games market currently.
“I’ve been very fortunate during my career, working for some great companies, on some brilliant brands, before setting up Carbon Digital with Paul. I’d now like to help other young women come through in this fantastic industry.”
