Esports and Gender Diversity, Barriers, Perceptions and Pathways for Inclusion : the role of stereotypes and cultural perceptions affecting women's participation in eSports

Abstract

Women represent nearly half of the global gaming population, yet remain significantly underrepresented in competitive eSports, leadership roles and professional gaming spaces. This thesis investigates the barriers that contribute to this, focusing on how harassment, stereotypes and cultural perceptions shape women’s participation in eSports. This thesis also examines how Female Gaming Finland (FGF), which is a community organisation for women and gender minorities, responds to these challenges through their advocacy, community building and their creation of safe gaming spaces for their members. A mixed method research approach was used in this thesis, combining a semi structured interview with FGF’s vice chair Sonja Lappalainen and a FGF member survey with 22 respondents. These qualitative and quantitative findings were combined with the literature findings and existing academic literature on gender, harassment, gaming culture, stereotypes, and eSports participation. The results show that almost all survey respondents and Sonja reported experiencing harassment in gaming, which in contrast with the literature findings give insights into prevalence of toxic gendered hostility, with stereotype-based exclusion emerging as a major factor that undermines women’s confidence, performance and sense of belonging. The study also identifies structural barriers such as limited visibility, unequal opportunities and resource constraints within diversity driven organizations like FGF. FGF was found to provide a counterbalance to these challenges by offering a safe space and a sense of belonging that women and gender minorities who experienced harassment can shelter themselves from. However, FGF is heavily limited by its volunteer burnout and lack of resources, which concludes that community led initiatives are essential for fostering inclusion, but require more support from the wider eSports ecosystem to survive. These findings offer theoretical, practical and organisational recommendations given to FGF to continue promoting gender equity in eSports and grow their reach.