Excerpt
SUMMARY: Video games are still largely aimed at a male audiences, which is no surprise since women make up a small portion of game designers and programmers. But that doesn't mean that girls aren't interested in playing and creating. Girls-only computer camps aim to balance the gender gap in the next generation of coders. Special correspondent Sandra Hughes reports.
SANDRA HUGHES (NewsHour): It’s no secret that video gaming is aimed at a male audience. From creation to design to playing the games, the mostly violent first-person shooter games target boys, not girls.
No wonder. In 2013, women accounted for just 11 percent of computer game designers and only 3 percent of programmers. Ten-year old Scarlett Thompson isn’t too young to understand there’s a gender gap.
SCARLETT THOMPSON, Alexa Cafe Participant: I love video games.
SANDRA HUGHES: Do you really?
SCARLETT THOMPSON: Yes. So, I mean, there’s really…
SANDRA HUGHES: So, what’s it like — what’s it like for a girl who likes video games? Is it a tough world to be in?
SCARLETT THOMPSON: Kind of, because then, like, you have to compete with people, and it’s just — sometimes it’s really hard, like, online. It’s not as fair and, like, I — like, oh, no I have a girl on my team. What am I going to do?
SANDRA HUGHES: These girls want to be more than just on the team. They want to create the game. They spent their summer break, along with thousands of others, at girls-only computer coding camps like the Alexa Cafe and Code Like a Girl.
These camps aim to balance the gender gap in the next generation of coders by supporting an early interest in technology from girls.
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