More women in games, says UK government

Natalie Hanman has written a great article in today's Online about the forthcoming drive to encourage women into the IT and games sector in order to bridge the skills gap and address the serious gender disparity in the hi-tech workforce. From the article:

Last week, the government finally woke up to this gender divide: the Department for Education and Skills released £8.4m to tackle the shockingly low proportion of women working in IT. The money will provide computer clubs for 10 to 14-year-old girls in an attempt to redress the imbalance in earlier education choices, which no doubt affects higher education and job decisions, too.

Wouldn't that be dandy? Furthermore, she says

the industry must surely soon acknowledge that more female developers means more female gamers, and therefore more gamers overall - which increases revenue for gaming companies.

Her article echoes recent research by Marketwatch (via Kotaku) which indicates that the diversity "issue" needs to be tackled on a global scale.

For gamesblog's coverage of women and games, check out the women and games category index.

For the terminally interested, the Women in Games Conference is coming up in Dundee, Scotland between 8-10 August.

Also, check out ELSPA's Chicks and Joysticks: An examination of women and gaming White Paper, released last September.

More gamers equals more games makers equals a greater diversity in games. Simple.