The overall objective was to foster gender balance and collaborative leadership by empowering and digitally upskilling women in careers related to the video game sector. Three specific objectives were defined: A) To raise awareness of the opportunities within the sector and the challenges women face in male-dominated environments. B) To empower participants by strengthening their self-confidence, leadership, and interpersonal skills in technological contexts. C) To provide specialized technical training aligned with real industry demands (real-time creation tools, interdisciplinary collaboration, and cross-sector applications within design fields). We aimed to improve employability, broaden professional horizons, introduce innovative methodologies within the participating HEIs, and generate transferable resources (Documentary, White Paper + Guide, Pilot Training Programme Syllabus, and additional documents emerging from project activities) capable of promoting structural change in both education and the creative sector.
FAIR GAME was conceived to address a structural gap identified in higher education and in the video game industry: the low participation of women in technology-related studies and careers linked to game design, despite the high presence of women in design education. We identified a mismatch between the available female creative talent and the digital skills demanded by a rapidly growing sector. The consortium’s joint needs analysis revealed clear challenges: lack of female role models in the industry, limited training in advanced digital tools within official curricula, insufficient awareness of professional opportunities, and the persistence of male-dominated environments that affect women’s confidence and retention. In addition, in the aftermath of COVID-19, design students faced reduced employability prospects. The project directly addressed Erasmus+ priorities related to inclusion, digital transformation, and the modernization of higher education by proposing a structured intervention to foster gender balance, digital upskilling, and more inclusive creative ecosystems.