Women share game industry career advice

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"Women demand a better work-life balance," Fellbaum said. "As more women are coming into the industry, (they) are forcing that change and saying, 'Look, we can do this smarter and better. We don't have to work harder. We can work smarter.'"

Gano Haine, vice president of product development for LimeLife, agreed. She said it's hard to imagine a video game industry without the occasional crunch period, but she suggested that women may be better at coming up with ways--such as treating the management of life at work for themselves and co-workers as they would do at home for their families--to handle such pressured periods.

Further, Haine said, women are better than men at saying no to the kinds of demands put on video game employees. But that doesn't always mean they get their way.

"The difficulty in this industry is staying around long enough to make that 'no' stick," Haine said.

That's an important element to effecting larger change in the industry, said Lisa Waits, head of Nokia's Snap Mobile division, but one at which women may not be particularly good.

"Unless you have some longevity, it's really tough to get into executive positions," Waits said. "(Women) as a whole do not do a good job of articulating our career ambitions and promoting ourselves."

Regardless, it's important for women to establish boundaries of what they will and will not put up with, several panelists said Saturday, something that's more important for women than men because of the realities of the difficulties of bearing children and maintaining a career.

Loftis recalled how, after giving birth to her first son, she had gone on a long business trip to England. After seven days, she said, she missed her son so much that her arms hurt any time she thought of him.

Afterward, she continued, she committed to never going on business trips longer than seven days.

Shari Graner Ray, an author who writes often about the issues women in the industry face, told a story about how she had been in Austin for her wedding when her chief executive called to tell her he had laid off a third of her employees.

She said she considered calling off the wedding and going back to New Mexico to deal with the fallout from the layoffs but decided in the end to continue with the wedding. Saturday, the audience broke out in applause upon hearing Ray's story.

All in all, Saturday's event was more informative than definitive. Much of the content had more to do with general work-life balance issues than those specific to women. But for some of those who attended, getting the chance to be alongside so many female industry professionals made the conference well worth attending.

"It's great to be involved in such a supportive and constructive environment," said Cheryl Platz, a producer for Amaze Entertainment in nearby Kirkland, Wash. "People (here) want to fix things...It's really important that we talk about how to fix the industry as a whole."

[qwerty75]

typical

Just because you have breats and a different organ down south doesn't mean you bring true diversity. Just be glad that you have choices unlike men. You can choose to work(although you whine about actually having to work, and still suck your husbands bank account dry) or you can choose to stay home and suck your husbands bank account dry.

This is very typical from women these days. They want everything men have but don't want to put in the effort required. People wonder why womens enrollments in engineering and computer science is low and not increasing. It is the same reason why stupid frat boys go into business and avoid any degree that requires real work.

Don't get me wrong, I am no corporate slave and life comes before work. Work pays for life and has no bearing on who I am. I am all for women being treated fairly, but they want special treatment on their terms only.

What they don't want is equality.

[fshattuck]

Missed the boat ..

Somebody obviously missed the diversity training lecture - your misogynist take on women, in or out of the workplace, only reinforces the point of the article.

[David Arbogast]

Diversity is great, but...

Diversity is almost always a good thing, but there are some points made in this article that I simply cannot agree with. First and foremost, forced diversity is NEVER good. In a world where 10% of men and 2% of women want to work for a video game company, forcing a 50/50 ratio of men to women in such a company provides nearly zero benefits... but lets look at a couple issues in particular:

<<Men have a slow curve upward toward the pinnacle of (professional) expertise. Women will take a couple of dips." >>

I see this as a choice. Women choose to have children, and my choose to stay home and take care of them. Men can also choose to stay home and raise children. It comes down to personal choice... And every choice you make can affect your goals in life. the same is true for ANYBODY... The man who takes a 4 year sabbatical is probably damaging his long-term career goals too. -and that makes perfect sense.

<<As a result, she said, many women's video game careers never reach their full potential, and some end up leaving for other work. Thus, she said, it is imperative that the video game industry work harder to come up with ways to address women's needs. >>

I completely disagree. The industry runs the way the industry runs. People go to work and like it or they don't... sometimes, if they don't like it, they quit. It has NEVER been the responsibility of the industry to address the needs of men or women in particular, but rather to provide a consistent and fair work environment. Asking the industry to adjust its practices based on your given sex is... well... sexist. If a woman wants to be CEO of a company, she may have to give up the option of being a stay-home mother. Certainly, men who become CEOs don't stay home with their children either. It is NOT the industry's responsibility to help a woman OR a man reach their career goals. Can you imagine how many CEOs each company would have?!? Individuals must work for themselves, compete with others, and make the right choices. There is no other FAIR way to acheive your career goals.

<<women may well force the industry to come up with new ways to handle the delicate balance between work and life. >>

Goodness, I hope not. The industry was never forced to help men handle the balance between work and life... if it had been, we wouldn't all be stuck in cubicles 40 hours a week with hunched backs, aching shoulders, and a to-do list at home a mile long. If your job doesn't provide you with the satisfaction you want, you should find another job. Again, to suggest that the industry should change because women want more is just wrong. Everybody wants more - and it is our personal responsibility to juggle our interests, personal lives, and careers to obtain a balance that works well.

Events designed for women - and events designed for men, are perfectly legal and acceptable in today's life... but there comes a point when we have to wonder what the motives behind these events really are. When the industry has an open conference and women turn out in lower numbers than men, part of the reason is that fewer women are working in the industry. Perhaps some of them are not interested in attending at all. And sure... perhaps some feel intimidated. But when women form their own conference, is should be perfectly acceptable to ask why. Why is an open and diverse conference not as good as a female-focused conference that preaches diversity? Because, I suspect, the goals go beyond fostering natural diversity. Certainly, this article appears to confirm that fact.

[meadia]

Welcome

I will usually come here.