Green man Gaming is thrilled to announce a partnership with St Mary’s University London as part of the BeSMART programme. See full release below:
Green Man Gaming partners with St Mary’s University to promote diversity in videogames
11th March 2021, London, UK: Green Man Gaming, the global video games eCommerce and technology business, is teaming up with St Mary’s University in Twickenham to offer internship and mentoring opportunities for BAME students, to promote diversity in the UK gaming sector.
Recent HESA data shows that BAME graduates are eight percent more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts, as well as being less likely to have industry-specific work experience. BAME graduates tend to make 70-90 percent more applications than white graduates, yet once in role, tend to be less well paid.
UKIE estimates that approximately 10 percent of people working in games are BAME, which while higher than the creative industries, is lower than the software and IT industry. Significantly, 70 percent of people working in the games industry are male, a significant overrepresentation compared to the working population.
Through St Mary’s University’s BeSMART programme, Green Man Gaming will begin offering paid marketing internships at the firm, where they will rotate through all marketing divisions including performance marketing, brand, affiliate, influencers, CRM, and social media. They will also receive mentoring from senior Green Man Gaming staff across all areas of the business.
Ian McGregor, chief marketing officer at Green Man Gaming, said “During lockdown we have seen gamers of all ages, genders, and ethnicities taking up gaming at record levels in the UK. But the sector still fails to represent the gaming population. Diversity is a topic we at Green Man Gaming feel passionately about, and this is the latest initiative we have undertaken to improve the diversity of our sector and provide valuable skills and experience to the students who need it the most.
Obi Oputa, Career Consultant at St Mary’s University “St Mary’s University Employability Services is excited to be partnering with Green Man Gaming. It’s important that employers not just think about how to make their sectors and businesses more diverse and inclusive, but actually take action and Green Man Gaming is doing this! Through providing internships and mentoring for our students from underrepresented backgrounds, they are creating life and career enhancing opportunities, and furthering the pathways towards addressing some of the inequalities these students experience.”