Taking to Twitter in light of a recent survey which showed female participation in some sectors of the game industry is as low as 4% Ken Levine has called the gap between the sexes "terrible".
a) The gender gap in the industry is terrible for the industry. b) to work on the problem, we need to have an understanding of the problem
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) April 5, 2013
c) The first step is research that doesnt' ignore basic statistical standards?(small sample sizes, self-reporting, experience x ref)
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) April 5, 2013
Probably statistically safe to say 50% of potential game talent is female (adjust for nurture issues). Long way to go, but need good data
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) April 5, 2013
Levine's comments highlight the significant difficulties women have in joining the industry with men being paid more than their female counterparts in all but one category according to the Game Developer Magazine survey.
According to the report the sector of the industry with the highest porportion of women is that of producers where 23% of respondants were female. The wage gap between men and women ranges from 65% in the sound producers field to 7.8% producers.
Women programmers and engineers on the other hand take home 4.5% more on average than men in the same roles.
Levine did not provide a breakdown of Irrational's gender balance though it seems to be something he's concerned by. Irrational faced some controversy when they excluded BioShock Infinite's Elizabeth from the game's box art and have promised downloadable alternatives will be made available.
