Investigating A Supportive Online Gaming Community as a Means of Reducing Stereotype Threat Vulnerability Across Gender

We explore the relationship between online gaming communities (which literature shows act as informal learning environments) and experience in game culture, which has been shown to be inequitable, harassing and otherwise unsupportive to certain players, particularly females. Specifically, this study explores the experiences of gamers in gaming clans, both explicitly gender supportive and not, to see if they can serve as protective spaces for vulnerable players. Ultimately, the goal is to inform the design of equitable gaming environments.