Abstract

Historically, the African American female population has been underrepresented within the STEM workforce, creating non-inclusive environments. The metaphor of getting a seat at the table reflects the idea of inclusivity where Black women’s opinions are valued, and they can make decisions and create change within the workplace. Intersectionality poses several unique challenges for Black women pursuing careers in the video games industry. We motivate further research on this group through existing literature and insights from running a research group on the group design of human-centered data science games in a collaborative university setting. We take an autoethnographic perspective on the topic, with the first and second authors grounding their findings in their own experiences as Black women in STEM and higher education and with video game development studios. We outline tangible actions toward the recruitment, development, and retention of Black women in the video games industry in the future.