As part of an effort to increase diversity in the game industry, the Entertainment Software Association Foundation has pledged to donate $111,000 in scholarships to women and minority students who are pursuing degrees related to game design and production. The ESA Foundation 🌠Computer and Video Game Arts Scholarship Program aims to bring new perspectives to the video game industry, and encourage women and minorities to turn their passion for video games into careers.
The ESA Foundation believes that its mission has wider ranging effects as well. They cite the fact that women who play ღvideo games when they are young are three times more likely to go into a career in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) than those who don’t. The scholarship program aims to nurture this passion through college, and encourage this trend.
The ESA Foundation is giving 35 students scholarships that total to $105,000 altogether. For the first time, they are , an organization of LGBTQ+ professionals in the gaming i꧃ndustry, to offer 3 schol🌠arships of $2,000 each to students who have demonstrated service and leadership in the LGBTQ+ community.
The scholarships awarded in this program can go towards tuition, textbooks, and other expenses related to education. Recipients also are invited to attend an induction ceremony at E3 for members of the new scholarship class. This gives them the opportunity to meet with some of the leading designers andꦏ executives in the video game industry. In 𝕴addition to helping with paying for the recipients’ education, the scholarship gives them an opportunity to network with industry professionals and learn more about the careers they want to enter.
Video games are an increasingly diverse hobby, but the video game industry is lagging behind these changing 𝕴demographics. Efforts by organizations like the Entertainment Software Association are important to making sure that diverse voices are represented on the production side of gaming. It’s encouraging that the ESA Foundation is partnering with organizations of industry workers like Gay Gaming Professionals. Hopefully these partnerships will continue as new ones form, and the ESA Foundation will keep helping aspiring video game industry professionals.
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