Background and Objectives: The esports industry has continued to see exponential growth in recent years (Statista, 2023). Despite this growth, there are concerns about the experiences of women in esports, primarily female esports players. For example, women in esports often experience harassment and discrimination online (Ruvalcaba et al., 2018). In addition to anecdotal evidence, a recent non-academic, commercial survey also found almost 60% of female gamers have experienced abuse online, with 30% experiencing sexual harassment and exclusion from games (Bryter, 2020). Despite the clear presence of harassment within the esports industry, there is a lack of extensive, empirical research on the frequency and potential implications of such incidents specifically within esports literature on female players. This lack of research makes it challenging to fully comprehend the scale of the problem and develop effective strategies to address it. The aim is to investigate the extent of harassment experienced by female esports players and consequences on player performance and participation.
Methods: A cross-sectional design will be used to conduct a prevalence and burden study (Capili, 2021) on current female esports players to understand their experiences of harassment through esports participation. An online questionnaire will be implemented to assess and examine the overall frequency of harassment experienced by female players, and the subsequent burden associated with their willingness to participate in esports, potential time loss in participation from harassment, perceptions of gender identity, and their self-rated performance.
Results: Preliminary findings concerning the frequency of harassment and implications on female esports players will be discussed in the presentation.
Conclusion: The project intends to address the gap in quantitative literature on female esports players, and potentially encourage stakeholders and governing bodies to consider what steps can be taken to develop an environment in which women feel safe to thrive in esports.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)