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Instructor Michelle Hinn Named Influential Gamer

October 12, 2006

It is no secret that the video game industry has long been dominated by men: the majority of people working in the industry are men and they have traditionally developed games that appeal, by and large, to men.

But what about the women? Women play an ever-increasing role in the field and in September, the online magazine Next Generation published their list of the "Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women." Among those honored was GSLIS instructor Michelle Hinn.

Hinn teaches LIS 199: Children’s Science in Museums and LIS 199: Video Game Design. Both courses are offered exclusively to the female students of the Women in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (WIMSE) living/learning community where Hinn has worked as the academic coordinator since 2004. "One of the things that I think is pretty amazing is that we get a chance to see what young women would create for themselves if they had, to borrow from Virginia Woolf, 'a room of one's own,'" Hinn said.

By discouraging young girls from playing video games, Hinn believes society is robbing them of the opportunity for early exposure to computers. "Boys get into the world of computer science often through creating a mod for a video game or doing some, uh, reverse engineering on an Xbox to make it into a Tivo or a Linux box. But girls…aren't as encouraged to stay and play and, well, possibly destroy a game or a system in order to make their mark on it. And I think more girls and young women should be out there making their mark on games…and making them into games THEY want to play," she explained.

Turning girls away from technology at a young age can result in young women who gravitate away from academic fields focused on technology or science. Hinn said, "It's really been 'the boy's club' for far too long and a lot of research has suggested that when young girls are socialized against playing video games…that this socializes them into viewing computer science and engineering as 'boy's majors.'"

Fiona Cherbak, representing the group Women in Games International, was quoted in the article as saying, "These women are impacting not only the industry trade of making and marketing games, but are also exploring games as social commentary, games as art, games as educational tools, games as a story-telling medium, and games as the leading form of entertainment in our world today."

Hinn's work as chairperson of the International Game Developers Association special interest group on game accessibility contributes to her standing as one of the most influential women in gaming. The group is researching ways to make mainstream video games accessible to those with disabilities. "Accessible game interfaces often result in reaching many more gamers, including gamers without disabilities such as the emergence in popularity of one-button mobile phones games—a design strategy that has long been used to increase the accessibility of games for those with mobility disabilities," said Hinn.

Hinn is a doctoral student in educational psychology, working on her dissertation about undergraduate students and video game play under the direction of GSLIS Professor Chip Bruce. She is also the vice-president of the game division at DonationCoder.com, a shareware/donationware Web site.

For the complete list, visit Next Generation's website at http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3783&Itemid=36.

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