My collaborator has suggested that the cultural semiotics of nerd is not an effective lure, not an attractor, for young latino males (in the US) who might otherwise explore STEM fields. Bill Gates’ financial success is an insufficient model. The age group we are looking at is ten years old. These young latinos are acutely sensitive to signals about what it means to be a man. It is not acceptable to be enthusiastic, to work too hard, these are traits of “uncool”.
My language describing these challenges is still in flux. Malleable.
The context is that we are attempting to discover the efficacy of Making Videogames as an attractor to- and persistence in – STEM fields (and integrated with Art, or STEAM). We have a further goal to diversify the kinds of game-makers, and hence, games made.