Just a few and marginal: professional community and gender disparity in videogame industry

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Luigi Burroni, Giulia Cavallini
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2025/173
Language Italian Pages 20 P. 175-194 File size 319 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2025-173009
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The article examines gender disparities within the creative industries, with a par-ticular focus on the video game development sector in Italy. It investigates the role of the professional community of game developers in shaping the limited participation of women in the field, as well as their vertical and horizontal segregation. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with workers, analysis of their interactions on Facebook, and participant observation conducted during a national gaming convention, the study finds that the professional community plays a critical regulatory role in a sector char-acterized by weak formal regulation. This community contributes to the reproduction of gender inequalities in two key ways: indirectly, by promoting values and organiza-tional practices that hinder women's access to and retention in the labour market; and directly, by circulating gendered representations and stereotypes that devalue women as professionals, both in the workplace and within video game content.

Keywords: Gender disparities, videogame development, professional commu-nity, creative industries.

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Luigi Burroni, Giulia Cavallini, Poche e periferiche: comunità professionale e disparità di genere nell’industria dei videogiochi in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 173/2025, pp 175-194, DOI: 10.3280/SL2025-173009