Although esports – competitive, organized video games – has become a billion dollar industry, women players are hard to find on esports teams in America’s colleges and universities. In the following questions and answers, Lindsey Darvin, an assistant professor of sports management, explains why.
The conversation, CC BY-ND
1. Why are college esports dominated by men?
Women and girls face many barriers – both in terms of participation and employment – in all sports settings. That includes the way they are exposed sex-specific Harassment from male esports players, toxic masculinity, stereotypes, and prejudice, as I and my colleagues wrote in an upcoming article for the Sports Management Review.
These circumstances have resulted in fewer women and girls in college esports.
Previous research has shown that there are differences in the treatment of female players.
Male opponents and viewers are more likely than women to contribute to these hostile esports environments by insulting, abusing, and belittling male and female teammates. Men have indicated that – according to my analysis, 20% – they are significantly more likely to engage in hostile acts.
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To overcome hostility, women gamers often fail to use their real name or voice chat capabilities to avoid being identified as women. As a professional gamer stated in the upcoming Sport Management Review article, “Toxicity is 100%. You have players who don’t identify as female because they don’t want to deal with the backlash in chat. You are seeing a chat that is very negative for women and that is not fair. “
These actions reinforce an undesirable environment for women and girls. Women and girls frequently receive death threats and sexual assault threats. As a professional gamer said in my upcoming article, “Girls are scared, women are scared even trying to stand their ground or get better because … men tell them they don’t know how to play the game and they do their skill level will never be there. They’re so afraid to even start. “
Often times, when women reach competitive esports levels and win tournaments, they are marginalized. An esports player development expert told me, “If a woman is not good at a game, it’s okay because she’s a ‘girl’. No woman. It’s okay because you’re a “girl”. How small, gentle, young. These are the predatory, degrading language and thought processes that women encounter. “
At the college-varsity level, a current professional gamer stated, “In college, I was the token woman who played. It was very clear that you really can only have one girl on your team and it was used as a tool. “
2. Why is it important?
More and more colleges are awarding scholarships for gamers. However, women and girls miss out on these scholarship opportunities and the educational benefits that come with them.
$ 16 million in esports scholarships are awarded annually through the National Association of Collegiate Esports. Around 115 colleges and universities offer these scholarships.
Aside from the participation and financial losses of women and girls, the detrimental outcome of fewer female role models in sport makes for a somewhat cyclical phenomenon. It is difficult to be what cannot be seen. The highest paid man in professional sports – Jordan “N0tail” Sundstein – has brought in approximately $ 7 million in career income, while the highest paid woman, Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn, has brought in just over $ 300,000.
There are additional benefits associated with participating in the competition. Studies have linked it to improved self-esteem, technological literacy, graduation rates, and visuospatial thinking, as well as more meaningful social interaction.
Participation in competitive sports also goes well with science, technology, engineering, and math – or STEM – in terms of both education and careers.
3. Can women compete with men?
Women and girls have demonstrated their ability to compete with male competitors in competitions at the highest level and to consistently beat them. For example, in 2019 Li “Liooon” Xiaomeng became the first woman to win the Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Final. Tina “TINARAES” Perez took first place at Twitch Rivals in 2019: TwitchCon Fortnite Showdown. Janet “xChocoBars” Rose took first place in the 2019 Twitch Rivals: League of Legends tournament as part of the EZ Clap team. Kim “Geguri” Se-Yeon was named one of Time Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders in 2019 because he was one of the most successful esports players in another country male dominated Sports.
A woman plays a virtual reality game during the 2019 esports & music festival. Ivan Abreu / Getty Images for the Hong Kong Tourism Board
4. Do universities have to do something?
Women and girls are very interested in sport. Approximately 48% of women participate in video games that are considered to be in the esports category. That percentage of female participants jumps to 57% for women aged 18 to 29. Women play, watch live streams, and compete against each other an average of 15 hours a week. In 2019, 11 million women watched a Twitch livestream.
Colleges and universities that receive US federal grants are required to improve opportunities and access to participation based on the Title IX Policy, which prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs or activities that receive federal funding.
AJ Dimick, the director of esports operations at the University of Utah, told me that “the early stages of college esports are not sufficiently representative and diverse and could benefit from the scrutiny and control of Title IX.”
Initiatives to create an inclusive esports environment for women and girls have already started. Team Liquid, a professional esports organization founded in 2000 with teams around the world, announced the establishment of a diversity task force in January and hired Aerial Powers, the star of the Women’s National Basketball Association, as its first diversity ambassador. In September 2020, PNC Bank and Pittsburgh Knights formed a Steering Committee for Women in Sports to develop solutions to gender inequality in the sports industry.
These initiatives are evidence of a changing esports landscape and efforts to bring women and girls into this space. As college sports continue to grow, institutions need to consider their own role in creating opportunities for all.
This article by Lindsey Darvin, Assistant Professor of Sports Management at the State University of New York College in Cortland, is republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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