NuGamers: creative orientation for a more gender-inclusive games education

by Francesca Olivier, Future Games, Sweden.

When NuGamers started in late 2023, the question was simple: how can vocational game schools turn good intentions about gender equality into what actually happens in outreach and in the classroom? Two years later, as the project comes to an end, partners can already see concrete changes in how they talk about games education, reach out to girls and non-binary learners, and support them once they enrol.

Coordinated by Futuregames (SE) with ALL DIGITAL (BE), Xamk – South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (FI), Sineglossa (IT) and Algebra University College (HR), NuGamers focused on the people who design curricula and lead orientation and recruitment activities. These staff sit at the crucial intersection between secondary schools, VET and higher education, yet rarely receive tailored support on gender-inclusive practice.

The project began by listening. In Sweden, Finland and Croatia, female secondary school pupils, VET students and early-career developers took part in focus groups about their pathways into games, the stereotypes they encountered, and the hostile behaviours they often meet in online gaming communities and industries. Their experiences fed into a concise factsheet on gender bias in games education. It maps obstacles, motivators and risks such as cyber-bullying and self-censorship, and sets out key recommendations for schools, VET and HE providers.

On this basis, the partners co-created the NuGamers Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Games Education, a practical guide for managers, teachers and guidance counsellors. It offers checklists, self-reflection questions and real examples from the partners’ own game programmes. Topics range from rethinking course descriptions and imagery, to balancing creative and technical elements in curricula, to working with parents and school guidance staff who may see games as “not a real job”.

Alongside the handbook, the team designed and tested the NuGamers Toolkit of creative orientation activities. These include an interactive role-model game, card-based discussion formats and short video scenarios that can be used in school visits, open days or in the classroom. All tools were tried with mixed-gender groups of teenagers, and then adapted based on their feedback. Partners report that these activities made it easier to talk about stereotypes in ways that felt engaging rather than accusatory.

Methodologically, NuGamers combined co-design, arts-based approaches and critical media literacy. Rather than speaking about girls in games, the project worked with them. Participants were invited to rewrite course descriptions, sketch more welcoming learning spaces and script alternative narratives for well-known game genres. For VET and HE staff, structured reflection exercises helped them surface implicit biases in language, imagery and selection criteria, and turn abstract policy goals on inclusion and diversity into concrete changes in recruitment materials, lesson plans and classroom interaction.

Awareness-raising was another key strand. A small podcast series captured the voices of women studying and working in games, and of teachers and industry representatives who are rethinking how they present careers in the sector. A final European event in Brussels brought together VET and HE providers, industry associations and policy makers around a simple message: “If we want a more diverse games industry, we need to change the way we talk about and teach games“.

For the partners involved, NuGamers has already shifted practice. Orientation and teaching staff say they feel better equipped to recognise subtle bias in language and imagery, to challenge stereotypes in conversations with prospective students, and to design activities that appeal to a wider range of learners. Several institutions are now integrating NuGamers insights into broader strategies on equality, diversity and inclusion, ensuring that game programmes actively support a fairer digital transition.

The experience is also highly transferable beyond games. STEM programmes face similar challenges when it comes to attracting underrepresented learners. NuGamers offers classroom-ready materials that STEM education providers can adapt, whether they are designing a new course, rethinking outreach to schools or adding a gender to their initiatives.

All NuGamers resources – factsheet, handbook, toolkit and podcast – will soon be available as open educational resources through the NuGamers website and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform. By sharing what worked – and what had to be reconsidered along the way – the project aims to support other educators who want to make their media and games programmes places where more girls and women can see themselves, feel welcome and thrive.