Lecture I wrote for Stem events

1. Inspiring Girls in STEM
Nia Wearn
Senior Lecturer in Computer Games Design
Award Leader for Gameplay Design & Production

2. I am a gamer, and I love technology
• I teach Games Design at Staffordshire University
• I’m a heavy user of Social Media and new technologies
• I’m also a games designer, a comic book nerd and a Sci-Fi fan
girl
• I run the largest Global Game Jam event in Europe
• I was voted one of the top 100 women in the UK games industry
• I started designing websites when I was 13 – and I followed my
passion for design and technology to where I am now

3. BSC (Hons)
Interactive
Entertainment
My background
Encouraging
mum
Me! Technology
Techie dad
Older
brother
MA
Digital
Games
GCSEs
• English lang.
• English lit.
• Double Science
• Welsh lang.
• Welsh lit.
• Maths
• History
• Graphics
• Media Studies A Levels
• Computing
• Sociology
• Archaeology
• English Literature

4. I don’t blame you for not caring
about studying technology
• From what I gather
nothing much has
moved on in these fields
since I studied them
over a decade ago
• Rates are declining for a
number of reasons
• In that time technology
has moved on massively
Changes are coming,
Computing will enter the
National Curriculum, but
it won’t benefit you.

5. The T stands for Technology
•Everyone in this room uses
technology
• You have mobile phones & Social Media
accounts
• You are consumers and users of
technology

6. I also know that this isn’t going to change –
the future is bright for technology – and for
jobs in technology

7. You are a new breed of
technology user
You shouldn’t just be satisfied
with being a consumer – you
should be helping to design the
technology, software &
hardware that you’ll be buying
in the future.

8. (I’m actually a hard core strategy gamer)
I do research into how you can use game
mechanics in non game situations
- Awareness of water in Africa
- Changing Energy Consumption
- Big Changes in organisations
- Helping students find their way around
campus
- Helping young Europeans learn about
Minoan Culture
I teach about Games Design,
documentation, Level Design, Games
Marketing, Gameplay Applications &
Experimental Games.

9. How my beloved industry treats
women & girls is beyond disappointing

10. How my beloved industry treats
women & girls is beyond disappointing

11. Better games will only come from
a diversity of developers
Labour MP Chi Onwurah says only 6
per cent of UK ICT workers are female
"My figures show that only 6 per cent of
those who work in ICT in the UK games
industry are women, despite the fact
that they make up 50 per cent of those
who play the games."
No one in this room, if they play games now,
are suddenly going to stop playing them

12. (It is starting to get a little bit better)
More and more developers
are thinking about how they
can appeal to female
audiences, or use female
characters to tell exciting
new stories

13. Careers in Games?
Making
Games
Art
Design
Code Everything you see,
hear, experience in a
game has been made by
someone

14. Careers in Games? – what you
really need
Core
Skills
Communication
Problem Solving
Adaptablility Games get better, and
group dynamics change
the moment there’s a
woman in the team
These are neither male or
female skills – but people
skills

15. What will happen if you don’t
pursue careers in STEM?
The honest answer is
nothing
• Nothing will get better
• Men will continue to earn
more the women
• The skills gap will
continue to widen
• Your horizons will
continue to narrow

16. I want you to be the next
generation’s role models
• Growing up I didn’t have anyone to inspire me in my career
• My students and alumni have a much better idea of the
few women making a name for themselves in games –
but it’s a small pool to draw from.
• Who is going to be the inspiration for my 9 year old
niece, who wants to be a Games Designer and make the
next Minecraft?

17. The one thing to remembered
If anyone, ever, tells you you’re
not capable of doing something,
or it’s not the career for you
because they have an outdated
stereotype in their heads it’s up
to you to prove the wrong.
Thank you for listening.