Diversity & Inclusion in Gaming: How do professionals feel about it?
It’s time to discuss diversity & inclusion in the gaming and immersive industry! In 2023, we introduced this topic for the first time in our annual questionnaire. We aimed to discover whether respondents felt that their business fostered inclusivity. Understanding professionals’ perspectives on representation and opportunities within the industry is important – so, what are people feeling in 2024?
Do people feel the workplace is diverse? Is the organisation making steps towards an inclusive workforce? Let’s find out what people had to say!
Are organisations actively promoting diversity & inclusion in gaming & immersive?
Overall, 72% of respondents believe their company is working hard to promote diversity and inclusion. It is a promising figure, but the hard work shouldn’t stop there. To ensure this figure continues to improve, companies need to make diversity and inclusion a central focus at all times.
We decided to delve a little deeper into our respondent data. While the overall figure is a promising start, people at different levels of the business might have a different point of view. Are those who should be implementing a solid D&I policy on the same page as those who live and breathe the company culture?
As we can see, the scores from both groups are not too different. What is most surprising is that it is the employer respondents who ranked the efforts of the company slightly lower than the employees. Perhaps it’s indicative that these respondents have a lot more insight into the overall company approach and structure. Their teams believe the company is making great strides, but they are able to see the areas that need improvement more clearly. It demonstrates that irrespective of hierarchy, there will always be a need for dialogues to ensure inclusivity and uphold the reputation of the business as an advocate for diversity.
How do professionals rank workforce diversity?
This year, we added a new question, asking respondents to rank the workforce diversity out of ten. It’s great to see a company talking about diversity, but does it actually do anything about it? From our respondents overall, the average rank was 6.2/10. The score isn’t the highest, indicating there’s still space to grow. Considering the numerous perks diverse teams offer, like boosting innovation and decision-making, aiming for higher scores could show a deeper dedication to nurturing an inclusive workplace.
Once again looking at employers and employees, do both segments feel the company is striving towards this? The scores are not too different once more and the employers have also given a lower score than the employees again.
It opens up an interesting debate. Every person has a point of view in a business – it’s what diversity & inclusion is all about. While business leaders and senior managers might see more efforts to create a diverse workforce, are they seeing inclusion at their level? Perhaps this segment feels that there is not enough diversity in the C-Suite, giving some context to the lower score.
Across gaming and immersive technology companies, diversity needs to be evident not only in different teams but also at the C-Suite level. When the leadership team reflects diversity efforts, it fosters innovation, empathy, and better decision-making, ultimately driving success across the business. Right now, these scores suggest that our respondents don’t feel this is the case just yet!
Want more gaming & immersive industry insights?
We will be focusing more on the diversity & inclusion topic – more of which can be found in our full report. All of this, plus many more exclusive insights. Download your free copy today!
