Passion, women and the games industry : influences on women's participation in the Australian digital content industry

This paper seeks to share initial research findings from a current case study that explores the influences on women’s participation in the Australian Digital Content Industry (DCI) sector of games production. It provides rich descriptive insights into the perceptions and experiences of female DCI professionals identifying influences such as; existing gender ratios, gender and occupational stereotypes, access into the industry and future parental responsibilities. The theoretical contribution includes the use of Bandura’s (1999) Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as a “scaffold” (Walsham, 1995) to guide data analysis and to assist in the analytic generalisation of the case study findings. It is proposed the lens of ‘human agency’ and theories such SCT provide a way to explain how these influences manifest and why they are important in influencing ‘women’s agency’. Emerging from the empirical case study data within the DCI industry context and theoretical explanations offered by SCT, the proposed ‘Sphere of Influence’ conceptual model (Geneve, Nelson and Christie, 2008a) provides a heuristic framework for further exploring these influences.