Article
Demographics of undergraduates studying games in the United States: a comparison of computer science students and the general population
Computer Science Education
(2013)
Abstract
Our study gathered data to serve as a benchmark of demographics of undergraduate students in game degree programs. Due to the high number of programs that are cross-disciplinary with computer science programs or that are housed in computer science departments, the data is presented in comparison to data from computing students (where available) and the US population. Participants included students studying games at four nationally recognized postsecondary institutions. The results of the study indicate that there is no significant difference between the ratio of men to women studying in computing programs or in game degree programs, with women being severely underrepresented in both. Women, blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and heterosexuals are underrepresented compared to the US population. Those with moderate and conservative political views and with religious affiliations are underrepresented in the game student population. Participants agree that workforce diversity is important and that their programs are adequately diverse, but only one-half of the participants indicated that diversity has been discussed in any of their courses.
Keywords
- games,
- demographics,
- undergraduate students,
- curriculum
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 6, 2013
DOI
10.1080/08993408.2013.769319
Citation Information
Monica M. McGill, Amber Settle and Adrienne Decker. "Demographics of undergraduates studying games in the United States: a comparison of computer science students and the general population" Computer Science Education Vol. 23 Iss. 2 (2013) p. 158 - 185 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/asettle/62/