Exploring Attitudes Towards Gender Diversity Initiatives in Portuguese Esports

In Portugal, women are significantly underrepresented in esports (Monteiro 2021) and game development (Gil 2022; WPGI 2022). Yet, Portuguese game design students typically hold conservative views towards gender roles and disinterest in prioritising equity (Lima and Gouveia 2020; Lima et al. 2021). These might be attributed to gender stereotypes, which are prevalent in Portuguese culture (Tavares 2020). Non-profit advocates such as AnyKey have recommended practices to help esports to become more inclusive and promote diversity (AnyKey 2015). However, these works often generalise findings without further consideration for cultural differences in attitudes towards social justice and diversity. This work forms part of a larger ongoing project that explores how national esports communities navigate gender diversity. The current work explores the disposition towards gender diversity initiatives in the Portuguese population. Here, we will extend the initial work with a questionnaire to assess the representativeness of the previous findings. Drawing on actor-network theory (Latour 2005), the work follows the actors to explore the views of individuals involved in esports when it comes to incorporating social justice in esports spaces, i.e., representation of women and LGBTQIA+ individuals in games, promoting marginalised individuals in esports, and moderation practices. This research will yield several insights into the Portuguese esports’ ecosystem, which remains understudied. With recent campaigns promoting esports in Portugal, it is crucial to understand the best way to ingrain gender diversity in an emerging esports scene. This work will also strengthen the esports literature by exploring a local ecosystem, and how its aspects embrace and resist gender diversity. Findings from a cross-section of the data collected in 2024 will be discussed at the conference.