Boys like video games more than girls do--it’s the primary reason why more men than women major in computer science (CS). At least that’s the conventional wisdom. So, what about game development? This paper, which cites previous research on why game development is a good educational exercise for computing majors, addresses how to get a class’ female software engineering students interested in its game development project. This is important and timely, not only in regards to the potential educational benefits for female students, but also in the overall retention of female CS majors--a perennial problem for many years.

The author’s solution was to have female students build serious games--for example, games that have an educational purpose. The reported results show that the self-selected all-female team was more enthusiastic and spent more time working on its game, as compared to all-male teams. This well-written, worthwhile paper is recommended for anyone interested in perceived gender disparities in recruiting and retaining CS majors.