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Background <p>Esports is an umbrella term for competitive sports involving videogames. Esports is considered a largely male-dominated industry that undermines female participation. This systematic literature review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of empirical literature focusing on the state and representation of women in esports by broadly focusing on esports players (including professionals and competitive gamers).</p> Methods and limitations <p>This systematic review employed a PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach. The systematic review included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods empirical research and identified 19 relevant studies from <i>Web of Science</i> and <i>PsycINFO</i>. Non-empirical literature was excluded.</p> Results and limitations <p>The findings were summarised into four themes based on thematic analysis principles: (i) a toxic atmosphere for women – subordination, discrimination, and sexualisation, (ii) female motivation and representation, (iii) thriving in esports: coping strategies for combatting gender discrimination, and (iv) interventions and further issues. Analysis and synthesis of the findings suggest that esports can be a hostile space for women and may stigmatise female gamers through exclusion, objectification, and negative stereotyping. Further, the analysis indicates that women employ coping mechanisms such as resilience and in-game gender-swapping and observed that esports may serve as an escapist and empowering platform for women marginalised by oppressive norms outside of gaming. Its key limitations include the exclusion of a risk-of-bias assessment, lack of protocol registration, and omission of additional databases due to the scope of the systematic review and the emerging nature of the research topic.</p> Conclusion <p>The findings of this systematic review present implications for subsequent research focusing on women in esports, their psychological wellbeing, and interventions focused on boosting women’s state and representation in esports.</p>

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A systematic review of the current state and challenges to the representation of women in esports

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月15日

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  • Daria J. Kuss,
  • Sundara Kashyap Vadapalli

摘要

Background

Esports is an umbrella term for competitive sports involving videogames. Esports is considered a largely male-dominated industry that undermines female participation. This systematic literature review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of empirical literature focusing on the state and representation of women in esports by broadly focusing on esports players (including professionals and competitive gamers).

Methods and limitations

This systematic review employed a PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach. The systematic review included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods empirical research and identified 19 relevant studies from Web of Science and PsycINFO. Non-empirical literature was excluded.

Results and limitations

The findings were summarised into four themes based on thematic analysis principles: (i) a toxic atmosphere for women – subordination, discrimination, and sexualisation, (ii) female motivation and representation, (iii) thriving in esports: coping strategies for combatting gender discrimination, and (iv) interventions and further issues. Analysis and synthesis of the findings suggest that esports can be a hostile space for women and may stigmatise female gamers through exclusion, objectification, and negative stereotyping. Further, the analysis indicates that women employ coping mechanisms such as resilience and in-game gender-swapping and observed that esports may serve as an escapist and empowering platform for women marginalised by oppressive norms outside of gaming. Its key limitations include the exclusion of a risk-of-bias assessment, lack of protocol registration, and omission of additional databases due to the scope of the systematic review and the emerging nature of the research topic.

Conclusion

The findings of this systematic review present implications for subsequent research focusing on women in esports, their psychological wellbeing, and interventions focused on boosting women’s state and representation in esports.