What is life like for women in the gaming industry? Being raised in the Bay Area, where many startups thrive and a significant Asian diaspora, Tiffany realized that the tech industry would be highly competitive. Her undergraduate experience at UCSD and her work at PlayStation helped her learn the importance of play.
Finding Love in the Games
She’s always loved the entertainment industry, whether it’s TV, anime, or the movies. Tiffany fell in love with gaming because of its interactive nature and realized that this is the next frontier in interactive. It allows people to be immersed in the experience and gives gamers control over how the story pans out.
“I really loved this idea of video games because I feel like video games are the next frontier for entertainment. You’re not just one-way communication, a passive observer of this medium, but truly your actions make a difference within the narrative. Within the story. Within the world that you exist in, that I felt was just super cool.”
Integrating Play at Work
PlayStation encourages play at work, and this heavily influenced how people work. The team structure allows blended roles, and the brands are treated as products. This enables gamers to see and experience more of the game, whether in the form of board games, movies, and other licensed products.
Diverse Ways of Solving Nuanced Problems
While Tiffany has been working in the gaming industry for some time, she knows that a broader perspective is needed to solve new challenges at work. Although experience is an advantage, continuing education allows her to learn about trends in other industries. This is what Haas is helping her do.
“I think the fact that Haas focuses so much on DE&I really drove me to come to Haas. A lot of what I’m seeing in my industry has driven me to want to learn how to approach some of these nuanced and complicated problems of how do we bring more equity into the space in a field that can often have some scarcity mentalities when we think about bringing other groups up or trying to bring more diverse people into our qualified groups.”
Girls for Gaming
Outside of school, Tiffany leads the organization Gaming for Girls to pave the way and open more opportunities for women in the gaming industry. The organization is focused on promoting gender diversity in gaming through:
- Advising women on negotiating for better pay and tackling difficult conversations in the workplace.
- Improving how women are portrayed in games.
- Normalizing women’s involvement in the industry.
Join the Club
Tiffany encourages women from Cal, whether you’re in grad school or undergrad, to join Girls for Gaming. Help create an inclusive community of women who bring people up and enjoy fun, lighthearted gaming and brings out your creativity.
