Women’s History Month 2022: Creating Opportunities for All
Every March, we celebrate Women’s History Month. It is a time to reflect on progress made, call for change, and celebrate the achievements of women, who are creating, leading and impacting communities, industries and society as a whole.
Our mission at Sony Interactive Entertainment is ‘to be the Best Place to Play’ – for our PlayStation community, our partners, as well as our employees. We aim to create a culture of inclusion and belonging in which everyone, regardless of their background or gender, feels valued and people care for them – across all of our platforms, through our experiences, and in our workplaces.
Aligned with International Women’s Day, which is celebrated globally on March 8, we want to use this day as an opportunity to reflect on the journey we at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) are driving to achieve inclusion, belonging and equity for all, especially women and other underrepresented groups in the gaming industry.
Our aim is to hold ourselves accountable, be a force for change, and hopefully inspire others to do the same in order to create a world where everyone belongs.
Our workforce at SIE
The commitment to create a culture of inclusion and belonging for our employees and extended workforce is core to our business. It builds the foundation for our mission: to connect the world through the power of play. In the spirit of transparency, we want to share our SIE workforce gender data as a first step.
While these numbers might be consistent with our industry, we know that we have to do better. Acknowledging where we are today will enable us to drive change and track our progress as we continue the journey.
The leadership at SIE, together with our Human Resources department, have committed to a set of actions in order to have a more diverse workforce. Our efforts include expanding our diversity sourcing and recruiting efforts in Talent Acquisition as we continue to recruit and hire top talent that reflects diversity of thought and experiences, equip our leadership, people managers, and our overall workforce to be inclusive leaders, in addition to several other measures.
One important pillar to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging at SIE are our Employee Networks (eNets). Women@PlayStation is a place, which provides an opportunity for employees to get together and raise awareness about the contributions women make, and celebrate their achievements, not only within SIE, but also in the industry and beyond. We will continue to listen and learn from the experience of the women and non-binary workforce at SIE, as well as their allies who are sharing their thoughts.
To celebrate Women’s History Month 2022 within SIE, our global Women@PlayStation teams have planned several opportunities and virtual events for employees to engage, connect, and learn all about this year’s theme #BreakTheBias; including a ‘Diversity of Thought’ workshop which aims to help attendees think more objectively about how people receive and provide communication, and understand a common language that goes beyond ethnic background and gender.
Our PlayStation community
Inclusion and belonging for all allows us to accelerate innovation, create the best products and services for our community, and connect gamers around the world through the shared joy of play.
At SIE, we have a unique opportunity to change the image of what a hero might look like – for everyone, not only just girls and women. Our PlayStation curated Amazing Heroines collection highlights some of the most exciting women characters, narratives and storylines available on our platforms. Please check it out when you have the time – there is nothing more rewarding than being united through the power of play. We are incredibly proud of our player community around the globe and we will continue to push the boundaries of play with all of you.
We also believe that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging needs to be integrated into our everyday lives, and we know that there is still significant work to be done. At SIE, we are proud to have some great partners, incredible organizations, and amazing individuals on our side, who support, guide and advise us on this journey. Organizations such as Girls Make Games, Black Girls CODE, Innovate Her, and Girls Who Code drive impactful programs for the next generation of talent by providing girls and women access to STEAM projects in order to pursue a career path in the tech and gaming industries.
Looking ahead
We are humbled about this journey at Sony Interactive Entertainment. We know that there is so much more work ahead of us as we continue to build a legacy of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for generations to come. Our message for Women’s History Month 2022 to everyone who is on this journey with us: Let us not forget that where women rise, everyone benefits.