Girls gamers synonymous with scientists

A study in the United Kingdom found a close relationship between a taste for video games from an age and a vocation for science and technology. Will it be the key to ending gender inequality in these areas of knowledge?

One of the great problems of equity in education in practically the whole world is how to attract more women to careers related to Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics. After centuries of inequality, the number of women enrolled in a university has finally equaled that of men, but their participation in the areas of Science and Technology is still very scarce. All over the world, only 35% of those enrolled are women, according to Unesco estimates.

However, a study by the University of Surrey, in the United Kingdom, found a great strategy to encourage them: video games.

According to the researchers, girls who between 13 and 14 years of age played video games intensively (on average more than nine hours a week) were then 3.3 times more likely to enroll, after several years, in a STEM degree (those related to Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics, for its acronym in English).

The conclusion of the study is that girls interested in videogames self-identify as 'geeks' (a term used to refer to people who are fond of technology and computer science), which brings them closer to science, technology and mathematics.




Semana: Las niñas que juegan videojuegos tienen tres veces más probabilidades de estudiar ciencia (4/22/2019). Extraído de: https://www.semana.com/educacion/articulo/encuentran-relacion-entre-videojuegos-y-pensamiento-cientifico-en-las-mujeres/610484