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This young graduate landed her dream job making Minecraft and now she wants more women to join her

15 March 2018

After graduating in Dundee, Julie Kennedy bagged herself a job working on the massively popular game Minecraft. She now wants to encourage more women to enter the gaming industry.

“We need to be putting women and minorities to the forefront so that people can see people like them” she said.

“As soon as you see someone like you it becomes so much easier to imagine yourself in that role.”

A passion for creating art led Julie to the Computer Arts degree course at Abertay University and then on to games company 4J.

“I really wasn’t expecting to work on such a big product in my first job,” said Julie. “You come to Dundee and you don’t realise that these games are being made here.”

“You think that you’re never going to be at that level ... and that stops you applying for jobs. But companies are always looking for new people and it doesn’t matter if you’re not the best artist in the world. If you turn up and they like you and you can prove you’re going to be really good to work with you can end up working on these giant games.”

And Julie has some advice for anyone who dreams of being in her position. “Just get out there and start making things. You don’t even need to finish things, just start making them and you’ll realise that it’s not nearly as intimidating as you thought.”

Women in gaming

  • Video gaming bosses say they want to employ more women, but the number applying for jobs is falling.

  • Is creating female video game characters too much work?

  • Stephanie Harvey and Julia Kiran are two of the most famous female gamers in the world, but they recurrently face online trolling and a huge gender pay gap.

  • Very few women enter the world of professional gaming, and those that do often face harassment.

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