We really hope you enjoy these stories and find bits and pieces that resonate with you, wherever you find yourself in the world.

 

Do you have someone in mind you’d like to be interviewed for our #GFTSuccessStories? Do you have a story to tell yourself? Send an email to allie.weis@howest.be to discuss further details.

 

My name is Allie Weis and I currently work as our Ethics Coordinator in International Game Development at Howest - Digital Arts and Entertainment. As the Ethics Coordinator position at DAE is a fairly new one (as from June 2021), I’ve been working towards a few goals this academic year: reach a broader and more international audience with our #GameforThought livestream and podcast series, launch a Mission Statement to guide and support our community, and find ways to make our female and/or minority-identifying students feel fully welcome and empowered as future industry professionals.

 

It's my hope that these highlights help inspire – in any way possible – young people to explore possibilities in game development/game design. Far too often, we see that stereotype threat pushes potential students/industry professionals away from a more technical career – one that they actually could really excel in. I believe that highlighting success stories from our very own alumni – from all sorts of backgrounds – could provide inspiration to those who are doubting if they could really succeed in the game/digital entertainment industry, amongst high pressure in a (largely) male-dominated space.

 

Enter #GameforThoughtSuccessStories, our newest project highlighting success stories among female and/or minority-identifying graduates. We’ll be interviewing a few alumni per semester, primarily surrounding their experiences in the industry thus far & how their identity has impacted their experience (or not) over the course of their career. We also look forward to hearing more about how education might differ from real-life industry experience in the industry.