Previously, little was known about online gaming behavior based on games played and how people’s professional interests are mirrored in what they play. To examine this correlation, in collaboration with Game Academy Ltd, Surrey researchers investigated the gaming behavior of 16,033 participants to explore how the hobby could support video game players’ future career planning and professional training.
The participants each played a different amount of games on Steam, a digital distribution service and marketplace for video games. Researchers looked at the 800 most popular games and only included individuals who provided gender and employment information.
Researchers revealed that IT professionals and engineers played puzzle-platform games, which may have improved their spatial abilities.
Managers were drawn to action roleplay games that required organizational and planning skills, while engineers were drawn to strategy games that frequently required problem-solving and spatial skills. There were also clear gender differences: females favored single-player games, whilst males liked shooting games.
By understanding to what extent career interests are reflected in game playing, we may be able to demonstrate more clearly how these align with career interests and encourage employers to understand the value of the soft skills associated with gaming. Our research could also inspire game developers to work on honing these soft skills more closely in their design.
Dr. Anesa Hosein
Dr. Anna-Stiina Wallinheimo, lead author of the study, Cognitive Psychologist, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Surrey’s Centre for Translation Studies (CTS) said:
“In recruitment processes, the best candidates may be missed because organizations do not consider the soft skills that have been gained through non-work activities (for example, online gaming). As a result of our research, we believe applicants’ online gaming experiences should be highlighted because these acquired soft skills can really help to develop their all-around strengths for the job at hand.”
Dr. Anesa Hosein, co-author of the study and Associate Professor in Higher Education at the University of Surrey said:
“By understanding to what extent career interests are reflected in game playing, we may be able to demonstrate more clearly how these align with career interests and encourage employers to understand the value of the soft skills associated with gaming. Our research could also inspire game developers to work on honing these soft skills more closely in their design.”
“Furthermore, places of learning, such as universities, could allow students to reflect and incorporate gaming as part of their career development and consider how gaming can be included in the curriculum to enhance alignment between students’ learning, career aspirations, and extra-curricular gaming interests.”
This research was published in SAGE Journals.
