Serious games contributing to competence development on gender equality in organizations

IN

DEGREE PROJECT DESIGN AND PRODUCT REALISATION, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS

,

STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2019

Serious games contributing to

competence development on

gender equality in organizations

Serious games contributing to competence

development on gender equality in

organizations

Klara Thunström

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2019:693 KTH Industrial Engineering and Management

Examensarbete TRITA-ITM-EX 2019:693

Serious games bidrag till kompetensutveckling inom jämställdhet i organisationer Klara Thunström Godkänt 2019-12-02 Examinator Claes Tisell Handledare Magnus Eneberg Uppdragsgivare Playitfair Kontaktperson

Britta Nordin Forsberg

Sammanfattning

Ett serious game är ett spel med syftet att lära spelaren ny kunskap och kompetens, och samtidigt vara underhållande och engagerande. Ett område som saknar koppling till serious games är jämställdhet i organisationer. Det är ett ämne som också är aktuellt i organisationer inte minst då det, bland annat, bidrar till högre avkastning men även är en del av de globala målen i Agenda 2030. Syftet med den här studien är att bidra till jämställda organisationer med hjälp av serious games. Studiens avsikt är att bidra med både praktisk och teoretisk kunskap. Det teoretiska målet är att bidra med ny kunskap om serious games relaterat till jämställdhet och teori om experiential learning. Det praktiska målet med studien är att skapa och visualisera ett scenario som sedan kan användas i handlingen till spel om jämställdhet i organisationer. Projektet har följt tjänstedesignprocessens Double Diamond, med en användarstudie, bestående av intervjuer och test av triggermaterial, och en litteraturstudie, där befintlig kunskap inom serious games, spelelement,

scenarion, organisation och kön, experiential learning och kompetensutveckling undersökts.

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2019:693

Serious games contributing to competence development on gender equality in organizations

Klara Thunström Approved 2019-12-02 Examiner Claes Tisell Supervisor Magnus Eneberg Commissioner Playitfair Contact person

Britta Nordin Forsberg

Abstract

A serious game is a game which aims at enabling the player to acquire new knowledge and competence, while at the same time being engaged and entertained. Gender equality in organizations is a field with unexplored connections to serious games. It is a very topical subject and having an equal organization can, for example, lead to higher revenue and is a part of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to contribute to gender equality in organizations with the help of serious games, as serious games can be used to gain and maintain interest in a topic. This study aims at contributing both to practice and theory. The theoretical aim is to contribute with new knowledge on serious games related to the fields of gender equality and experiential learning. The practical aim is to create and visualize a scenario that can be used as content in a game aimed at creating competence on gender equality issues. The study behind the thesis follows the Double Diamond process, with the study consisting of a user study, with interviews and trigger material testing, as well as a literature study, which focused on existing knowledge in the areas of serious games, game elements, scenarios, organization and gender,

competence development and experiential learning.

FOREWORD

I would like to thank all the participants of the interview study for sharing their expertise and insights on recruitment, competence development and gender equality work. I would also like to say thank you to all of the participants in the trigger material testing for sharing their experiences and feelings.

A huge thank you to Magnus Eneberg for supervising, providing helpful guidance and being a brilliant sounding board throughout the entire process. And lastly, a special thanks to Britta Nordin Forsberg at Playitfair, for guidance and technical advice.

Klara Thunström

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2.4 Organization and gender 6

2.5 Competence development and serious games 10

3 METHOD 13

3.1 Literature studies 13

3.2 Service design process – methods for data collection and analysis 13

4 RESULTS 17

4.1 Interviews 17

4.2 Trigger material and following interviews 20

5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 25

5.1 Discussion of theories and results 25

5.2 Discussion of methods 33

5.3 Conclusions 34

6 FUTURE WORK 35

7 REFERENCES 37

APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW GUIDE 1

APPENDIX B: TRIGGER MATERIAL 1

APPENDIX C: TRIGGER MATERIAL INTERVIEW 1

APPENDIX D: NEW GAME ELEMENTS 1

1 INTRODUCTION

When searching for the term “serious games” on google in 2007, about 1 090 000 hits were rendered (Susi, et al., 2007). Today the same search engine presents 1 930 000 hits on the same term (Google, 2019). A serious game is a game aimed to teach its player new knowledge and competence, while maintaining engagement and being entertaining (Susi, et al., 2007). Serious games can be found in various fields. They were originally used in the military as simulators, but nowadays they can also be found in for example politics, where Utopolis is a democracy simulation, or in healthcare, where SPARX is a mental health game (SeGaBu, 2017). They offer quick feedback on learning to the player (Dörner, et al., 2016).

One field with an unexplored connection to serious games is gender equality in organizations. Gender equality in organizations is, like serious games, a very topical subject. Recently Lindström (2019) wrote an article in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, on how 4,5 million SEK was given to the discrimination ombudsman, with the aim to increase knowledge on discrimination in organizations. Dagens Industri, another Swedish newspaper, also presented an article on the same topic. In the article Stiernstedt (2019) describes how more equal organizations result in higher revenue. These two articles are examples of the importance of working with gender equality in organizations – and how it can be profitable.

The long-term purpose of this thesis is to contribute to gender equality in organizations with the help of serious games. This is in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, where the fifth goal is Gender Equality – to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (Project Everyone, 2019) and the eighth goal Decent work and Economic growth – promote

sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (Project Everyone, 2019).

The research behind this thesis has had both a theoretical and practical aim. The theoretical aim of the thesis is to contribute with new knowledge on serious games related to gender equality and competence development theories. The new theoretical knowledge will also have an effect on the practical outcomes, where the practical aim is to visualize a scenario that can be used as content in a serious game with a focus on gender equality. The scenario will contribute to content in a game the organization Playitfair is creating. This leads to the first research question: Could, and if

so how, theory on experiential learning contribute with new aspects on learning to the field of serious games? Taking the answer on this question into account, the second research question

becomes; How could a scenario in a serious game be presented to contribute to competence

development on gender equality in organizations?

The first research question is connected to the theoretical aim of the thesis and the second to the practical aim.

in the areas of serious games, game elements, scenarios, organization and gender, competence

development and experiential learning.

2 FRAME OF REFERENCE

2.1 Serious games

In the early 2000s, a “serious game movement” was initiated by the Serious Games Initiative (Susi, et al., 2007), leading to the creation of games that aimed to train, educate and persuade (Detering, 2012). The term “serious game” can be described as an oxymoron, being both serious and a game. T. Susi et al. (2007) explains the oxymoron by saying the word “serious” is intended to reflect the purpose of the game.

The definition of a serious game is that it should be engaging and entertaining, while also having additional goals. These additional goals are called characterizing goals and are contributing to the serious part. The games can be categorized by their characterizing goals, for example, exergames, which encourages people to train, and advergames, that are used for marketing. The most common characterizing goal is learning (Dörner, et al., 2016).

The design process for creating serious games is similar to the one of entertainment games, with the difference of incorporating the characterizing goals. The game must have game elements that are engaging and entertaining (Mildner & Mueller, 2016). These are, for example, competitive scoring, levels with different difficulties, or role-playing (Susi, et al., 2007), see 2.2 Game elements for further description. To identify what elements are suitable, the player must be identified, as different people have different motivators (Mildner & Mueller, 2016).

The game process must also be influenced by one or several domain experts since they are the ones knowledgeable in the serious content. It can for example be a pilot for a flight simulation game. It is key that the game characteristics and the serious content (the characterizing goals) are successfully integrated. Otherwise the result might be either just a learning application or just an entertaining game (Mildner & Mueller, 2016).

2.2 Game elements

To get and maintain the players interest and engagement, game elements are used. These can be described in various ways, and different designers and scientists use different descriptions. Tracy Fullerton (2014) categorizes game elements into:

• Challenge • Play • Premise • Character • Story • World building

They aim to create a sense of connection between the player and the game and are described individually below (Fullerton, 2014).

Challenge

The challenge game element is highly individualized and dependent on the player. The challenges must be satisfying to accomplish and take the right amount of time to finalize. They also have to be dynamic to stay challenging to the player. Eight steps can, according to Fullerton, be followed to create challenges that are entertaining. The first and second step create challenges that the player feel that they can complete and create an environment where they can focus on what they are doing. The third and fourth are related to the second, making sure the game has clear goals and provides feedback. The fifth are about making the player lose track of everyday problems and the sixth allow the player to feel in control of its actions. The seventh is about the loss of self-consciousness. The final one is about creating a challenge where the player lose track of time, where hours feel like minutes and vice versa (Fullerton, 2014).

Play

Dörner et al. (2016) describes play as

“…purposeless, intrinsically motivated activity with no explicit rules.”

Play can be described as the freedom of movement within a structure (such as rules). It can help us learn, make us laugh, socialize, or experiment. It may lead to innovation and to achieving unexpected results. A playful approach can be applied to serious and difficult topics, because it is more similar to a state of mind than an action (Fullerton, 2014). Play can be divided into four categories: competitive play, chance-based play, make-believe play and vertigo play. Competitive play is about creating rivalry and make the winner seem better than the loser. The chance-based category was created to contrast competitive play. The player has no control over outcomes and winning is a result of chance. As for make-believe play, the player is turned into someone else or moved to somewhere else. Vertigo play is an attempt to alter perception, to for example making someone think they are riding a rollercoaster (Caillois, 2001).

Premise

the premise can be shallow and simple or elaborate, realized stories, as long as they heighten the experience for the player.

Character

The characters make up the actions which moves the game forward. The characters can act as a mirror of the players feelings, therefor the player empathizes with them. They can also be symbolic, representative for different groups of people. Fullerton (2014) states four questions that should be answered when creating a character:

• What does the character want? • What does the character need? • What does the audience/player hope? • What does the audience/player fear?

Another question that the designer should consider is the control the player has over the character. The span can vary from the character having “free will” and being controlled by AI or “automation” where the player controls everything (Fullerton, 2014).

It is also of importance to decide whether the game has a first-person point of view (POV) or third-person point of view. When creating a character for a game with first-third-person POV the player should believe that they are in the game themselves and therefore character cannot have a will of its own. When the game has a third person POV, the character is separated from the player. It opens up for possibilities of the character making decisions (Gard, 2000).

Story

When creating a story for a book or a film, the author has the full power of the decisions made by the protagonist. In a game, the player is making the decisions which are making the story progress, therefor traditional storytelling methods are difficult to implement in creating game stories. For some games there are no stories, only backstories (see Premise). There can also be breaking points where the player has to complete a level to continue the story. Some stories have branches in the plot, where the player gets to decide the outcome of the game (Fullerton, 2014). Nacke (2014) describes two ways in which stories are told in games. Either the story is told to the player, in an interactive narrative or it is told by the gameplay the player engages in, by an emerging experience (Nacke, 2014).

World building

World building is about creating a fictional world in which the game takes place. These worlds can have real life similarities to for example languages, governments or places (Fullerton, 2014). There are two approaches to simplify the complex process of world building. The first one is called

The inside-out method, it applies when there is an existing premise for the game and there are some

2.3 Scenarios

The term scenario can, according to Cambridge dictionary (2019), have two different meanings. The first one being potential outcomes of a situation, a description of actions or events that might happen in the future. The second one is being a synopsis, a plan, for e.g. a roleplay or a film. Design scenarios are described as hypothetical stories, described in such detail that a particular situation can be explored. The scenario is built upon research data to create feasible situations and personas can be incorporated as characters. The scenario can be either positive or negative. Scenarios are used to review, analyze and understand driving factors of a situation and also to provoke discussions. They can be presented in different ways, e.g. plain text, storyboards or videos (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011).

Storyboards are important tools used for presenting scenarios. The storyboard consists of a series of pictures or drawings, visualizing a sequence of events. The most common way to construct a storyboard is the comic-strip format. The story is then told by a series of drawings. It is key that there are enough details that the person viewing the story will quickly grasp its concept. For storyboards either real life or made up scenarios can be presented. The purpose of the story board is, according to Stickdorn and Schneider (2011), to allow stories of user experiences be brought into the design process. They can also be used to provoke analysis and discussion on problems (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011).

Personas are fictional characters that can be incorporated into the scenario. They represent a group of people with common interests. The personas are developed based on research findings and the more engaging the persona is, the better. Even though being fictional, personas are representing real motives and needs (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011).

2.4 Organization and gender

Wahl, et al. (2011) describes organizations as a social constructions, arguing that descriptions of organizations lies in the eyes of the beholder. Organization and gender can be understood by looking at four themes (ibid.);

• Structure • Culture • Leadership

• Gender equality and diversity

Structure

Structure describes how organizations are built with respect to gender (Blau & Scott, 2003). Covering number distributions, degree of gender segregation (in tasks, professions and positions) and distribution of power and influence (Wahl, et al., 2011). The gender segregation can be described in three dimensions; horizontal, vertical and internal segregation. The description of where in different industries, organizations, professions and tasks men and women work is horizontal. The vertical segregation deals with where in the hierarchy of the organization women’s and men’s tasks are placed (Persson & Wadensjö, 1997; Robertsson, 2003). And finally, internal segregation discusses how a seemingly gender integrated environment can have different work assignments for women and men in the same profession (Wahl, et al., 2011).

example, often being preferred as executives. The organizational structures can work as means to sustain the interests of dominating groups. As tools to mobilize power and recreate the gender-power order (Wahl, et al., 2011).

The definitions of gender as a social construction have been discussed. Many scientists use the term doing gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987) as a way of describing gender as something that is constructed through interactions (Wahl, et al., 2011).

Culture

Culture describes the meaning of norms and values in organizations. The culture can be invisible and unconscious, it is often taken for granted and it drives thoughts and actions. The way the culture takes shape depends for instance on the organizations size, industry, type of business, structure and management philosophy. It is not uncommon that there are different cultural rules for men and women in organizations, and that they are measured on different scales. Gender is present in what is considered normal, fitting and functional in the organization, which in turn lays the foundation for the structures (Wahl, et al., 2011).

Effects of the culture might be gender labeled positions, gender segregation and imbalance in power. The gender labels describe how, for example a task, is associated to a gender. They can be analyzed with a power perspective; where the tasks are valued differently depending on whether a man or women conducts them (ibid.). Masculinity and femininity are often used to describe gender labeled actions. One advantage of using these labels are that it is not connected to sex, both women and men can conduct the actions (Wittbom, 2009).

Another term that is used when describing an organizational culture is homosociality. Homosociality describes for instance how men are oriented towards other men and how they are in unity with one another. Homosociality is, in the organizational contexts, linked to power structures and distribution of power (Sörensen, 2011). A consequence of homosociality could be exclusion of women from positions of power in the organizations. At the same time women might be an important part of the homosociality, acting inferior and confirming the existing culture (Wahl, et al., 2011).

A cultural factor relevant to the inclusion or exclusion of men and women in organizations is language and communication. The way of expression can have a silencing or marginalizing effect in both formal and informal environments (ibid.). Five master suppression techniques describe ways in which this could happen. The first technique is called making invisible, and it occurs when a person is being left out, forgotten about, or ignored on purpose. The second master suppression technique is ridicule, where a person is scoffed at or ridiculed. To withhold information is the third technique, which happens when someone does not get the information on, for example, essential work matters. The fourth technique is called double bind, and it occurs when someone’s actions, no matter what they are, are considered wrong. The last one is called heap blame, and it occurs through ridicule and double bind and insinuates that the person is the one to blame for the bad things happening (Ås, 2004).

the harassment can be a reoccurring, normalized behavior over time rather than being a single matter (Andresson, 2007).

Leadership

Four questions have been defining the research of leadership and gender. The first one is about how women are as managers. Research has shown that men have prevail for the definition of what leadership is. Women are therefore not only compared to male managers, but also to the norm of how a leader should be (Wahl, 1998). The second question is aiming to explain the low number of women in leading positions. The difference in conditions men and women meet in their career is one explanation, as well as the homogeneity among managers. The term “glass walls” are often used to describe the vertical segregation in this context (Persson & Wadensjö, 1997). The gender labeling of managers in organizations is the third question. This question leads to research on how construction of masculinity relates to construction of leadership, “think manager – think male” is a global example explaining this phenomenon. The male label on leadership leads to men and women being assessed on different terms. In recruitment this can lead to female candidates being rejected, with their potential being valued differently from the male candidates (Schein, 2001). Organizational changes (related or unrelated to gender) can lead to the gender labeling changing and gender-power order being questioned. The final question aims to understand how leadership is changing, both unconsciously and consciously (Wahl, et al., 2011).

Gender equality and diversity

The final theme aims to describe gender equality and diversity work in organizations. In 2009 a discrimination law was introduced in Sweden (SFS 2008:567). This law has affected the equality work, by promoting equal rights and possibilities regardless of one’s background (Wahl, et al., 2011). It has led to a prohibition of discrimination. Discrimination can be described as events that a person has experienced as for example; insulting, unfair, unjust or unequal (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen, 2018). The employer must therefore investigate and take measure on discrimination and harassment. They must actively act towards equal rights and possibilities. These active actions include working conditions, payroll, recruitment, promotion, education and competence development. If an organization have more than 25 employees, they must have a gender equality plan which has a focus on defining and follow up on the active actions (SFS 2008:567).

The gender equality and diversity work can be divided into a quantitative and qualitative part. The quantitative cover parts and numbers of groups of people, and the qualitative the culture and work climate (Wahl, et al., 2011). At the start of the equality work a cultural mapping of the current state in the organization is necessary. The results of the survey can later be divided into the quantitative and qualitative categories (Itzin & Newman, 1995).

education. The individual prejudice will be dealt with instead of the structures and cultures in the organizations (Foldy, 2002).

Gender equality work has a tendency of triggering resistance. The resistance can exist in both women and men, but studies shows that it is more common among men. Men have the most to lose on gender equality work; they earn more money, can advance on the work market more easily, does less of the unpaid work and has a higher status in society (SOU 1994:3). Resistance can be active or passive. Active means that the person is opposing the work, arguing and resisting. Passive resistance however, being most common of the two, might be shown in the person “forgetting” to do the equality work (Wahl, et al., 2011). There might also be cultural or institutional obstacles, often interacting with each other. Structures affect how people think and act (culture) and within the right culture structures can change.

Two approaches of gender equality work have been identified by researchers; liberal and radical (Höök, 2001; Linghag, 2009). The liberal work focuses on removing discrimination in visible processes and procedures, and to make it easier for women to combine family and work. This approach has been criticized for not questioning traditional gender roles. The radical approach is questioning existing cultures and structures in more depth than the liberal (Höök, 2001). Since power structures are complex, there are advantages and disadvantages with both approaches. The actual gender equality work is therefor often a mix (Höök, 2001; Linghag, 2009).

2.5 Competence development and serious games

There is no set definition to organizational learning, it is multidisciplinary and different fields have developed their own relevant theories and concepts (Saadat & Saadat, 2016). It can be broadly defined as the process of learning within organizations with the aim to help organizations to reach their goals (Popova-Nowak & Cseh, 2015).

Learning can take place in critical reflection of one’s own experiences (Drejer, 2000; Marsick & Watkins, 2001; Kolb & Kolb, 2011). One example of this learning style is called experiential learning. Kolb (1976) describes four stages of learning in a cycle, and four separate learning styles. The four-stage learning cycle can be seen in figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Kolbs experiential learning cycle

Concrete experience is where a new experience or situation is encountered. In the next stage, reflective observation, the new experience is observed and reflected upon. This is followed by abstract conceptualization in which concepts are created that integrate the observations to logical

ideas. Finally, the active experimentation is about implementing these theories and solving problems using them. Effective learning only occurs when the learner goes through all the four stages of the cycle. Using only one stage is not a sufficient learning procedure on its own (Kolb, 2015).

Kolb (2015) also describes four learning styles which the learner can use and sometimes mix:

Accommodating, Assimilating, Converging and, Diverging. Accommodation can be understood as

Converging. People learning in this style uses theory to find solutions to practical problems. The four styles can be understood by looking at Table 1, a two-by-two matrix with the four learning stages (McLeod, 2017):

Table 1. Two-by-two matrix of the four learning stages.

Active Experimentation (Doing) Reflective Observation (Watching) Concrete Experience (Feeling) Accommodating Diverging Abstract Conceptualization (Thinking) Converging Assimilating

When an individual, group or organization has learned something it can develop into a competence (Dunphy, et al., 1997; Drejer, 2000). The meaning of competence is, according to the Oxford Dictionary (2019); The ability to do something successfully or efficiently. This can be related to both individual and group tasks with the task being processed in an intellectual or manual way, and with or without tools (Ellström, 1999). The term competence can also be described as a combination of knowledge, technical skills and performance management skills. A competence is relevant to an organization if it is in line with the strategic performance of the organization (Dunphy, et al., 1997). This can be exemplified with gender equality as a competence that is connected to the strategic performance in an organization (Rodríguez-Domínguez, et al., 2012). As Rodrígues-Domínguez et al. (2012) claims that gender equality can lead to an competitive advantage and is a source of corporate value.

Learning in serious games

Gee (2009) describes four properties that lead to learning effects in serious games. The first one is about setting goals to make the player emotionally and personally attached to the game, which integrates problem-solving with self-interest. Gee states that the human brain, when there is an emotional attachment, learn more deeply.

The second property is about giving the player “microcontrol”. The control over a character makes the players feel that the character is an extension of themselves. Experiences in the game are thereof experienced by the player. The effect of this is strongest when the player only play one character throughout the game, making the attachment substantial (Gee, 2009). This could be related to the sensemaking process by Weick (1995). Sensemaking can be described as the making of sense, reflecting upon a memory of something that has already happened. By making the character an extension of the player it allows them to reflect on a situation that has not yet occurred in real life and make sense of it (ibid.).

3 METHOD

3.1 Literature studies

Literature studies were conducted to increase my understanding of the fields and recent research on topics relevant to the study with the aim to answer the research questions. The area of serious games was researched in order to understand the concept, its characteristics and its design process. It was followed by a study of game elements, connecting back to the research questions. It was also of importance to understand how to keep the player motivated, engaged and interested in the game. The practical aim of the thesis was to create and visualize a scenario, therefore scenarios and their components were researched. The field of gender equality in organizations was studied to understand the serious components of the serious game, differentiating it from a game with the single purpose of entertaining. Further on, I studied experiential learning and competence development to increase my understanding of how organizations and individuals create knowledge and develop new competencies.

3.2 Service design process – methods for data

collection and analysis

In 26 keys to Service design Westin quotes the designer Sarah Drummond, who describe the service design process in relation to the product design process (Westin, 2019):

“As a product designer my material was wood, metal, glue and paper, that was the materials I learned to make stuff with. If you want to go work in a service design context, go and learn the material of organizations, the fabric of it, like politics, relationships, data and then go and make

something better.”

For this thesis it is of importance to understand the experiences and needs of the user, to understand how they may develop competence and keep motivation in the game. In the service design process, the user is central, and therefore the process seemed highly appropriate to apply. The double diamond model divides the design process into four phases; Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver (Design Council, 2019). The phases are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The Double Diamond model

The first phase, discover, is about understanding and empathizing with the user. The define phase follows, which aims to analyze and synthesize the data to define and choose insights to focus on. For the third phase the perspective is once again broadened. This is the phase of ideation where concepts are developed. The last phase, deliver, is about testing and finalizing the service concept. All phases can be, and often are, iterative (Design Council, 2019).

Discover

In this exploratory phase a series of interviews were conducted to find gaps in the competence development process in organizations, in relation to gender equality. The interviews were chosen to be semi-structured (Milton & Rodgers, 2013). Partly because the external partner had demands on what areas were to explore. The interview questions had to limit the respondent to talking within those relevant areas. At the same time, it was of interest to see what topics the interviewee chose to talk about relating to competence development and gender equality. An interview guide was created; aimed to cover how the organization (or interviewee) was working with competence development and what the organization does in terms of gender equality. The interview guide used can be found in Appendix A: Interview Guide.

There are studies showing that men and women interprets the same gender equality initiatives in different ways (Wahl, et al., 2011). Therefore, the interviewees were equal parts men and women, to get different points of view. There was also an aim to get a spread of organizations varying from governmental, municipal and private, to discover potential similarities and differences. The external partner changed the aim from recruitment and competence development, to only focusing on competence development. This led to modification of the interviews, not putting too much emphasis on questions regarding recruitment. The questions were not removed, because they did still leave an indication on what core values the organization had. The core values could be connected to the culture in the organization, and what the organizations focus was regarding gender equality.

Define

Six interviews were conducted, and the interview data was analyzed by coding different topics mentioned by the respondents, looking for similarities and differences. The purpose of the analysis during the define phase was to increase my understanding of the perspective of the respondent and in this way identify key insights. The analysis was inspired by a thematic content analysis approach, which is a descriptive presentation of qualitative data (Anderson, 2007). Firstly, the topics relevant to the research aim was highlighted in the notes of each individual interview. These were then categorized into so called meaning units (Anderson, 2007), or clusters. The interview notes were then put next to each other in a document to get an overview of the distribution of the clusters. This showed which topics, in relation to gender equality, that were and were not discussed/mentioned. The process was iterative; creating clusters, examining the big picture of all the interview data and then redo the clustering.

Develop

The define stage led to a focus on the qualitative measures on gender equality and to a second loop of user interactions investigating in what situations the gender inequalities occurred with the help of trigger material. A benefit of using trigger materials is that it incorporates emotional aspects of personal interactions (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011). The trigger material was complemented with interview questions to get into thorough depth of the situations. Nine people tested the trigger material and were interviewed. There was a mix of women and men, to get stories from both perspectives. With the subject being a quantitative perspective on gender equality, there were more women having stories to tell and in the end four men and five women were interviewed and tested the trigger material. Almost everyone worked in different organizations, which gave insight into different organizational cultures. To reach comfortability in opening up and talking about gender inequalities the interview and testing was conducted in a private sphere, varying from the respondent’s kitchen at home to an empty room at KTH campus.

Before testing the trigger material, the cultural approach to gender equality in organizations was explained to the respondent. This was to avoid getting answers on quantitative gender equality issues such as pay or number of people, which was common in the first loop of interviews and not the focus of this study. The trigger material can be found in Appendix B: Trigger material. The first two pages, containing an explanation of the cultural perspective on gender equality and the general interview questions, were sent to the potential respondent beforehand. This allowed the respondent to think of relevant situations and come prepared to the test. The last page was printed onto an A3 and used for the walkthrough of the event. The entire trigger material testing was filmed for later analysis purposes. The respondents were however allowed to be anonymous and ensured that the information would not be published, and ultimately affect their work. They were also given the option to receive the report to read before publication.

An interview guide was created with semi-structured questions to get answers on topics relevant to the study and support creation of game elements, while at the same time allowing the respondent to describe the gender inequal situations freely. The elements relevant to investigate was World

building, Character, Story and Premise, see chapter 2.2 Game elements. For the world building

element is was relevant to examine where the gender inequal situation took place and what the characteristics of that place were. For the character element it was important to understand the people involved in the situation, their position in the organization and the respondent’s relation to the people involved. The story element was given by the description of the situation and the premise element by what happened before and after the situation. The interview guide can be found in Appendix C: Trigger material interview. The service design tool The 5 Whys was used as a compliment to the interview guide to dig deep into emotions and causes. In this tool the question

why is asked five times to reach the root cause of an issue (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2011).

Deliver

The respondents acted out situations of gender inequalities interacting with the trigger material. The results of this, and the following interview questions, were analyzed, looking for similarities and differences in the situations. Firstly, the videos were looked through and summaries were written, separating characters involved, the location in which it happened, the situation with following events and the feelings of the characters involved into four main categories. The feelings were of interest in relations to the experiential learning aspect, allowing the future player to experience the feelings of the actual situations. The next step in the analysis was to look for patterns in the four main categories and color code the patterns to visualize which features were similar. The frame of reference on gender equality was revisited to increase my understanding of how the situations could be categorized.

4 RESULTS

4.1 Interviews

The discover phase consisted of six interviews. The positions in which the respondents worked varied, but all had work assignments related to recruitment and competence development. The six respondents are in the following section called Respondent A-F, with A being the first person interviewed and F the last.

The coding of the interviews led to seven topics that reoccurred in most of the interviews: 1. Capturing of needs for recruitment.

2. How the needs are communicated. 3. How the selection of candidates is made. 4. How competence development is initiated. 5. Tools for competence development. 6. Quantitative gender equality work. 7. Qualitative gender equality work.

Capturing of needs for recruitment.

The capturing of needs for recruitment was a topic mentioned by all but one of the respondents. The respondents spoke of the competencies and experiences needed for recruitment, and of how to find vacancies that needed to be filled in the organization. Respondent B states;

“I look at what assignment I have and what type of competence we [the organization] need to fulfill that assignment”

Respondent E says;

“I make a lot of analysis of needs, looking into what competencies are needed and what the group looks like.”

Respondent C gives a brief description as well;

“The manager defines a vacancy and makes an analysis – what is needed on the department?”

The topic could also entail looking at the current workforce in the organization, their age, nationality and gender. Respondent B gives an example of this;

“I look at the group, what are their ages and gender?” How the needs are communicated.

The next topic follows on the first one, where all respondents talked of how these needs are

communicated. In this topic the responses relate to the job posting, which is either found by the

“The job posting contains; information on the organization and the specific department, what qualifications we are looking for, what is required and what is a merit, and the job

assignments.”

It is also mentioned that the job posting should attract everyone (with the right qualifications). Respondent F describes how they try to conform their job postings, so they don’t exclude anyone with the right qualifications based on their background;

“We look at our postings, some words stick with some people. We want to find diversity in our applicants.”

Respondent A had a more direct approach mentioning that the job posting must be sensible for both women and men, adding;

“We write that we want both female and male applicants [in the job posting].”

A demand profile (or competence profile) of the ideal candidate was created in the organizations of Respondent D and E. Respondent E describes it as,

“… have made a demand profile with qualities we think are good.” How the selection of the candidates is made.

How the selection of the candidates is made was the following common topic found. If the job got

applied to, the selection of candidates started by screening the applicants. If the candidate was found via headhunting they moved directly onto the next step, a meeting/interview with the candidate. An interview guide was in most cases created from a template similar for the entire organization. It was either competence-based, or value-based. Respondent A states that the competence-based interview method,

“…is about getting as close to practical examples as possible. Find out what you actually do in a situation. […] Adjust the questions to the competence areas in which you are interested.”

In the value-based interview, the candidate’s values are discussed to see if they are in line with those of the organization. When the interview guide was created by the respondent it contained elements from both the competence- and value-based guides. The next step in the selection process was varying in the different organizations. Some giving personality tests and some technical or other qualification-related cases to solve. References of the candidates were taken, and the references were interviewed. Respondent C gave an example of what was discussed with the reference,

“What role do they take? How driven are they? […] What has been the plan regarding their competence development?”

How competence development is initiated.

The interview data showed that competence development was initiated through needs identified in the organization. It can either be the manager, looking at the group and seeing what is missing, or the individual, that wants to develop a skill. Respondent C describes how competence development is initiated,

“I’m doing analyses of my department, to try and find if something is missing that needs to be reinforced. Analyzing both the individual and the entire department.”

“The vision is that people should grow in their role and have a drive to figure things out themselves, a leaning forward approach”

The individual is responsible for its own competence development, instead of running it by a manager.

Tools for competence development

The tools for competence development were both digital and analogue. The digital tools included web-seminars, short films, e-courses, e-learning and applications. Respondent E described how the organization wanted to get away from so called classroom training and move towards e-learning and e-learning the everyday work, from each other, “on the floor”. The analogue tools for competence development include conferences, projects, courses, workshops, meetings and lectures, varying from being internal to external. Respondent C talks of renewing information of some obligatory courses regularly, and a system that reminds you of when it is due,

“For some obligatory courses, the system reminds you that it is about to expire.”

There can also be some tools that mix digital and analogue competence development. Respondent C describes how the first part of a course could be digital, while the second part was a lecture. Respondent E also says,

“We have started a little with apps. For our values we have an app, where you for every value are assigned different task, for example to interview someone”

While the application is digital, the tasks can be analogue.

Quantitative gender equality work

All but one of the organizations had organizational charts for gender equality work. The one without was a newly founded organization with a flat organizational structure, equality issues were discussed but not charted. All of the respondents discussed ways in which they were conducting quantitative gender equality work, mentioning either equal pay or number of men/women working in the department. Respondent D said;

“Equal work should provide equal pay.”

This quote sums up what many of the other respondents were saying. Some also discussed the fact that more men or women were eager to apply to a certain position and problems in relation to that. This could, for example, be getting women to apply for tech positions or men applying to the health care roles.

Qualitative gender equality work

Only two out of the six respondents discussed qualitative gender equality work. Respondent C spoke of having core values in the organization and how the coworkers (and clients) should be treated with respect. They had online courses aiming to teach the staff on for example HBTQ questions. Respondent E spoke of education and workshops on biases.

“We work a lot with it, both biases and what we stand for.”

It also became apparent that none of the respondents connected competence development to gender equality or even organizational culture until the topics were introduced in relation to each other. The topics the organizations were connecting to competence development were often related to specific technologies or leadership.

4.2 Trigger material and following interviews

Twenty-one situations of gender inequalities were described by the nine respondents. The respondents are called Respondent G-O, with Respondent G being the first respondent interviewed and tested and Respondent O being the last. Figure 4 shows a video still image from one of the trigger material tests.

Figure 4. Still from one of the trigger material tests

Location

The twenty-one situations described by the respondents took place in twelve different places (with one situation not being able to place to a specific location). The first categorization was informal and formal places. The informal places were;

• Lunchroom (2) • Bar

• Restaurant

The formal places were; • Store (2)

• Warehouse • Private office (4) • Conference room (4)

• Conference room in another organization • Office common area

• Phone call • Open department • Internal work chat

Gender unequal situations happened more often in formal places and the two most common places were private offices and conference rooms, both mentioned four times.

Character

The characters involved in the described situations could be clustered into four groups. One common theme for all groups, was that there always was at least one man and one woman. They could be; colleagues with the same level of power (5), colleagues where the man is senior (7), the man being the manager over the woman (5) and coworkers from different departments (3). One of the situations could not be placed in any of these categories, being a group of men in different positions in relation to one woman. In some of the cases there were also other people present as the gender unequal event occurred. These could for example be customers, or other people in the office space with no direct connection to the situation.

Situations

The twenty-one gender unequal situations were clustered into four groups: Sexual harassments (5), Language and communication (10), Leadership (2) and Other (5). One of the situations was placed in both Sexual harassment and Language and communication.

In four out of the five situations in the Sexual harassment-cluster it was a man harassing a woman and in the final one it was the other way around. The harassments varied from being a comment, for example when a male told his new female coworker,

“Maybe we shouldn’t make out quite yet, we’ll take it later.”

or a male colleague creating an anonymous Facebook account to frame a female colleague that he regarded as:

“…promiscuous and that she slept with all the men in the office.”

The sexual harassments also consisted of unwanted touches such as grabbing the respondent’s buttock, giving the respondent shoulder rubs or leaning in so a breast touches the respondent’s back.

In the Language and communication-cluster the situations were about men using master suppression techniques and a male jargon. Some were about making the respondent invisible by simply ignoring them. Respondent L describes how a manager walks into a meeting, where four female colleagues were seated waiting for the manager and external colleagues. As he enters, he says:

Another example of the master suppression technique of making invisible, that Respondent L expressed, was when a senior male colleague walks into a room ignoring the presence of his female colleague and asks the inmates,

“Which [film] do you want? Do you still want the porn?”

Ignoring his female colleague having dinner with the inmates.

Other situations described had to do with ridiculing women in front of coworkers or customers. Respondent K describes an experience of calling a male coworker and getting the answer,

“But honey, you were not supposed to call me during work hours.”

The comment was followed by laughter from the male coworker and his colleagues on the other end of the phone. Another example mentioned, by Respondent N, was when a male coworker used condescending language together with his size to make his female coworker feel diminished, standing close and towering over her (speaking down to her both literally and figuratively).

“I try to argue with him, but then he positions himself so that he physically looks down on me and start using a condescending language with nicknames such as ‘sweetie’.”

Respondent H described another example of ridicule, where a senior, male colleague told a female colleague,

“Don’t you understand that we can’t do it that way?”

without explaining himself further.

There were also two examples where the master suppression techniques were combined with male jargon and homosociality. Respondent G described a situation where a female colleague was at dinner with five, male coworkers and the coworkers start to sexualize the female body and discuss prostitution, making the female colleague feel invisible. Respondent I describe an all-male work chat in which a lot of offensive four-letter words were used, and one male colleague was in the center of ridicule.

The third cluster, with situations relating to Leadership, contains two situations. Respondent J described how an organization had switched from a male to a female manager and how the female manager was much more questioned by the board;

“When he was there [about a colleague in management position], he did not produce better [results] than she did. Is it because she is a she, that she is questioned, or because she actually

delivers worse [results]?”

Another example is how Respondent O describes that a female manager greets male and female employees differently, to befriend the female employees.

The fourth cluster contain five situations, which did not fit into any of the other clusters. The situations were about: a customer turning to the male coworker instead of the female when asking for expertise, how a male counselor can create an inclusive environment in an all-female counseling, how a male coworker is treated differently in relations to “simple tasks” than a female and how a male counselor is put on a pedestal.

It was also of interest to investigate how other people in the room were acting during the gender unequal situations. In the two cases of sexual harassments, where other people were present, none of the people reacted to the harassment. Respondent H stated;

“From what I could see, nobody reacted. But it was also like this guy [the male, harassing coworker] laughed after his comment, to get confirmation from the others. Which he did not

In the other situation of sexual harassment, the female colleague was talking to a junior, male colleague when the senior, male colleague came over and started massaging her shoulders. The junior colleague did not react in the situation but spoke to her later about it being wrong.

In four of the language and communication-situations the other people in the room did not show any reaction to the situation occurring. Respondent K described a situation where someone was reacting. A female coworker notices the gender inequality and acts to illustrate to the man that he is using master suppression techniques.

“She walked over to the situation, grabs me and lifts me up. She does it to visualize to him that he is using his length to tower over me. […] She wants to highlight that someone is being

disadvantaged by the way you [the male coworker] talk.”

In another situation described by Respondent K, the colleagues of the male coworker laugh when the woman is being ridiculed.

As for the situations in the leadership-cluster the respondents themselves were not a part of the situations, merely describing what happened in the organization. They did not do anything to affect the situations. There were no situations in the other-cluster where others in the organization were present.

Most of the gender unequal situations were followed with descriptions of how the incidents were not brought up to the organization or the other person involved. Respondent O said,

“The difficulties with this are, that there are so many things that she [the manager] needs to fix, this is just one thing among many others”

about bringing the matter up with the manager. Respondent N said,

“Nor do I know if it is worth saying anything [to the manager], because it [the sexual harassments and master suppression techniques] isn’t too much. It’s a bit innocent, he has not

done enough to get fired.”

Respondent M described that,

“I don’t know the intentions with the [sexual] action, and that is why I find it hard to bring it up.”

Respondent K said,

“What happens next is that I don’t want to go to work, I don’t want to meet him. I became angry thinking that he might show up.”

after describing a situation of master suppression techniques and continues with,

“It did not feel like a situation that needed to be sorted out.”

Many more similar descriptions were said by the respondents. Respondent L spoke of a situation, related to the master suppression technique making invisible, where the matter was brought up with the manager afterwards and he responded,

“You know how he is, don’t take it personal!”

Feelings

5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Discussion of theories and results

When analyzing the first loop of interviews, it became apparent that the focus should not only be on what they spoke of, but also on what they did not speak of. The last two topics, Quantitative

gender equality work and Qualitative gender equality work, overlapped with the first five topics

described in 4.1 Interviews. It was clear that the quantitative gender equality work, such as equal pay, was much more present in the organizations than qualitative aspects. I therefore came to focus on the qualitative gender equality work, connecting back to the long-term purpose of the thesis to contribute to gender equality in organizations.

In the analysis of the trigger material tests and following interviews, the clustering was made with the help of the theoretical study of gender equality in organizations, connecting the respondent’s answers to theory. The purpose of the analysis was to find similarities and differences in the situations which could then create a scenario likely to occur in an organization. The first analysis, looking at the locations mentioned, showed that the most common places where qualitative gender inequalities occurred were private offices and conference rooms. Both places are formal and linked to the office. The two locations had equally many situations attached to them, and either one could therefore be chosen for the final scenario. The choice was left open so that it could be adjustable to other parameters.

The analysis that had a focus on the characters involved, led to the conclusion that in most of the situations the gender inequality was between a man and a woman, with the man being senior in the workplace.

The analysis of the situations showed that the majority of the qualitative gender inequalities were connected to language and communication in the investigated organizations, with a male colleague using master suppression techniques towards a woman. The two master suppression techniques that were used were making invisible and ridicule. Another common situation was where a man sexually harassed a woman. Most of the situations were followed by descriptions of why the incident was not brought to the attention of the organization afterwards.

The feelings being expressed by the respondents followed the same theme: feeling angry, sad and/or diminished. As many feelings as possible should be incorporated into the scenario, since this could give the player the experience of gender inequality.

The insights of the analysis can be seen in table 2.

Table 2. Insights from the second loop of analysis

Location Characters Situation Feelings Private office

or

Conference room

Man and woman, colleagues, man

being senior to the woman

Language and communication, master suppression techniques used.

No possibility/need to bring up the issue with anyone

afterwards.

Sad, angry, cross. Overlooked,

Creating game elements for competence development

The next step in creating the scenario was to examine how game elements, which are the building blocks for serious games, could be combined with theories on learning in serious games. To begin with the six game elements by Fullerton (2014) were combined with the four properties of learning in serios games by Gee (2009).

To summarize, the six game elements by Fullerton (2014) are:

• Challenge: The challenge element is about creating challenges that are satisfying to

accomplish. Eight steps can be followed to create challenges that are entertaining: 1. create challenges that the players feel they can complete; 2. create environments where they can focus on what they are doing; 3. make clear goals; 4. provide feedback; 5. make the player lose track of everyday problems; 6. make the player feel in control of actions; 7. make the player lose self-consciousness; and 8. make the player lose track of time.

• Play: Play can be described as the freedom of movement within a structure. It can be

divided into four categories: competitive play, chance-based play, make-believe play and vertigo play.

• Premise: Premise is the backstory of the game, which sets the time, place, character and

objective.

• Character: The characters make up the actions which moves the game forward. Four

questions need answering when a character is created: What does the character want? What does the character need? What does the audience/player hope for? What does the audience/player fear? The games point of view (POV) must also be decided.

• Story: The player makes the decisions which makes the story progress.

• World building: The world building element is about creating a fictional world in which

the game takes place.

When the elements and properties by Gee (2009) were compared it became apparent that there already was some interplay between them. The first property, Setting goals to make the player

emotionally and personally attached to the game, could be incorporated into the challenge game

element, modifying the third step to make clear goals. The second property of Microcontrol could be applied to the story element, deciding that the player should only be playing one character throughout the game. It could also be applied to the character element, where the point of view should be from the first person. This allows the player to be a part of the experience. The third property on Conditions on the experiences could be integrated into the challenge element by adding two new steps, step 9, where the game should encourage strategic thinking and step 10, allowing the player to advance. The fourth step should also be made more precise, adding the aspect of speed to the feedback. The experience should also be discussed, but this does not necessarily have to be a part of the scenario (or game elements). The final property, discussing the

Connection between the character and the virtual world, should be incorporated into the character element. Encouraging the creation of skills in the virtual world that can be extended to

the player.

The game elements with Gee’s learning properties (2009) will therefore be:

Challenge – The challenge element is about creating challenges that are satisfying to accomplish,

The new steps are:

1. Create challenges that the player feels he/she can complete.

2. Create environments where the player can focus on what they are doing.

3. Set goals that makes the player emotionally and personally attached to the game. 4. Make sure the game offers quick feedback.

5. Make the player lose track of everyday problems. 6. Allow the player to feel in control of his/her actions. 7. Allow the player to lose self-consciousness.

8. Create a challenge where the player loses track of time. 9. Encourage strategic thinking.

10. Allow the player to advance.

Character – The characters make up the actions which move the game forward. Fullerton (2014)

formulates four questions that should be answered in order to create a character:

• What does the character want?

• What does the character need?

• What does the audience/player hope for?

• What does the audience/player fear?

The game should be created with a first-person point of view, and the player should believe that he/she is in the game, experiencing what the character is experiencing. With this in mind, the character cannot have a “free will”. The character should be given skills in the virtual world, relating to the wanted learning effects, that can be extended to the player (Gee, 2009).

Story - In a game, the player makes the decisions which makes the story progress. There can be

breaking points where the player must complete a level to continue the story or branches in the plot, where the player gets to decide the outcome of the game. In order to build a strong attachment to the character, and gain learning effects, it is important that the player only plays one character throughout the game (Gee, 2009). Nacke (2014) describes two ways in which stories are told in games. The story is told to the player, in an interactive narrative, or it is told by the gameplay the player engages in, by an emerging experience.

The play, premise and world building elements will remain unchanged.

When the game elements are compared to Kolb’s four stages of learning (see 2.5 Competence

development and serious games), it can be seen that the theory of experiential learning could

strengthen the field of serious games. The game that is created from the game elements will most likely allow the player to experience the concrete experience and conduct active experimentation. The concrete experience is in the story or the premise of the game and the active experimentation is in the challenge or play. When the new experience is observed and reflected upon it is referred to as reflective observation (Kolb, 1976). The game will let its player observe the experience, but in the current game elements there is no requirement to allow room for reflection. The third stage of learning is according to experiential learning theory, abstract conceptualization, is when concepts that integrate the observation to logical ideas are created. Abstract conceptualization is not a part of the current elements. With the learning stages being connected to the four learning styles (assimilating, diverging, converging and accommodating), it means that only the accommodating learners (who learn by combining doing and feeling) are considered in the game. The learner needs to go through all four learning stages for effective learning.