Blue is for boys and pink Is for girls: How to break gender stereotypes with a videogame

Abstract

Serious games (SGs) provide an opportunity to address social issues in an interactive environment that is particularly appealing and engaging for school-aged children. Gender stereotypes are one of the most prevalent gender-related issues in current society. Stereotypes appear at early ages and are a global problem, even if they are particularly prevalent in certain cultures and countries. This paper presents an early acceptance evaluation of Kiddo, a serious game, to address gender stereotypes in Mexico. The game has been designed to address four of the main gender stereotypes still present in children in Mexico, and it is intended to be used in classes by teachers to provide a common experience for the class and to start a discussion about gender stereotypes. The evaluation was carried out with a prototype of the game and consisted of two separate stages. First, we verified both the usability of the game and its acceptance with a sample including teachers and gender experts (10 participants). Second, we carried out a complete formative evaluation with teachers (32 participants) who will oversee the later application of the game to ensure their acceptance of the game as a tool to use in their classes. The initial results of both usability and acceptance questionnaires are promising and have provided a useful insight into the strengths and areas of improvement for the game, and they are being incorporated into the final version of Kiddo. Besides improving the game, these results are additionally being used to better understand teachers’ perspectives and enrich the companion teacher pedagogic guide to simplify the game application in the classroom.