Pittsburgh, Women, Games and Creative Community

With the recent disheartening online discourse around women in games, which only underscores the historical issue this has been for the game industry as well as creative industries in general, Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center continues our strong commitment to environments where everyone who makes, enjoys and critiques games, and other creative media, deserves an inclusive experience free from harassment, discrimination and threats; regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, age or disability.

While we realize there is much more to do, we’re excited and proud of the growing creative community in Pittsburgh.  At the ETC, our graduate student body is around 40% women, and women comprise around 50% of our faculty and staff.  At Schell Games and Etcetera Edutainment (two local companies that grew out of the ETC), there are prominent women in leadership roles, and also in the active Pittsburgh chapter of IGDA. The ETC’s focus is on collaborative innovation amongst diverse colleagues, and all of our alumni go out into the industry looking to work in environments that embrace and value diversity.

This continues to be an ongoing issue, which requires us to openly discuss and actively address it. It’s through our actions and words that we develop our culture and community. The inclusion of women and minorities in our profession will only help improve the game and creative industries.

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