By Bianka Siwinska | CEO Perspektywy Women in Tech
Our latest scholarship and mentoring programis aimed at high school students from small towns in Poland. We want to equalize educational opportunities and encourage young women to develop technological competences and work in the video game industry in future..
In October 2021, we started recruiting for our proprietary - and the first in Poland - scholarship and mentoring program for young girls in gamedev. We created this program together with CD PROJEKT RED, the largest studio in Poland producing world-famous video games, such as "The Witcher" or "Cyberpunk".
Our goal was to break the stereotypes that gaming and gamedev were areas of interest only to boys and men. According to the latest IQS research published in the Game Story report, there are 17 million players in Poland, of which 47% - or 8 million - are women! Almost 2.3 million women declare that they play on a console or computer every day, and 22% of female players say that gaming is their passion.
Not only the number of e-sport enthusiasts is growing, but also the number of women in gamedev: in 2021 the percentage of women among game developers increased to 30% worldwide.
We want to encourage young girls to overcome these stereotypes and artificial limitations. Now is the time for more girls to develop their passion and build their careers in the video game industry. On board the Polish video game industry, we need women - programmers, graphic designers, scriptwriters, animation and sound specialists - their great ideas, competences and skills.
The interest in the 1st edition of the scholarship and mentoring program exceeded our wildest expectations! From all over Poland, we received over 1,400 applications from high school students who are passionate not only about gaming and dreaming about a career in gamedev, but above all exceptionally gifted, creative, thirsty for knowledge and development.
From among them- along with a recruitment committee consisting of experts from gamedev industry - we selected20 winners, who were awarded a 12-month scholarship in the amount of PLN 12,000 to cover the costs of education, development and purchasing computer equipment. The scholarship was accompanied by year-round participation in a series of workshops, lectures, and individual mentoring of the leading experts in the field of programming, storytelling and writing, graphic design, 3D animation, concept art, quest design, cinematic design, etc.
In February 2022, the official inauguration of the "Girls in the game!" Program took place, during which the winners - who came to us from all over Poland - participated in events and workshops for 2 days and met their mentors, with whom they will closely cooperate for the next year, deepening their knowledge, gaining new experiences and skills. Additionally, twice a month they will take part in lectures and workshops devoted to specific areas of the video game industry.
We believe that equalizing girls' opportunities in the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) ) gives them a chance to transform their passions into education, and then into a professional career - contrary to the stereotypes still persisting in Poland.
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