Recommendations for games to attract women to computing courses

Abstract

Previous studies show few women in Computing in educational institutions and industry. There is a need to create approaches to increase women’s interest in the field and reverse the current situation. This article reports the construction and evaluation of a digital game directed at women that may increase their interest in Computing. From the evaluation, it was possible to identify a set of recommendations for games that may contribute to meeting the objective and the audience under study. This study was based on the Action Design Research methodology, in which research includes methods for constructing and evaluating an artifact, which in this case is a game focused on women. We collected preliminary requirements through an online questionnaire, which received responses from 32 women. Afterward, the game under development went through three evaluation stages: in each, we conducted semi-structured interviews. In total, we conducted 31 interviews. We transcribed and analyzed the interview responses using Content Analysis and Quantitative Text Analysis. Among the 13 recommendations identified and verified, 11 are new. We organized them into four main categories: Design, Gameplay, Motivation for women, and Representativeness. These recommendations can assist the game industry in developing digital games that may stimulate women’s interest in Computing.