Today Game Developers Conference 2014 organizers are highlighting another great set of sessions in the Advocacy track that you'll want to check out, along with a reminder that just a scant few hours remain to take advantage of the Game Developers Conference early registration discount. Session highlights today include a roundtable discussion about how to hire more women in games, an examination of the results in a thorough academic study into the nature of discrimination in the games industry, and more. You can also find the full lineup of awesome advocacy-centric talks at GDC 2014 via the Advocacy track session list. Quick reminder: for the first time ever, GDC organizers have made all Advocacy track talks open to all GDC attendees, regardless of what type of pass they purchase. Now in its 28th year, GDC is the world's largest and longest-running professionals-only game industry event, and will once again take place at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California during March 17-21, 2014.

The Pixelles Method

Developers looking for a way to get involved in actively increasing diversity in the games industry should check out The Pixelles Method: How to Increase Game Dev Diversity, a talk from Pixelles co-founder Tanya Short that should be full of actionable advice. Short will explain how the Pixelles initiative got started and walk attendees through the creation of the program, which aims to provide motivation and resources to help women create their first game. Short will also provide tips for attendees who want to start their own advocacy program or mentor others in the field, and share her vision for how industry culture can change in the coming years.

Attracting and Hiring Women in Games

The Women in Games series of roundtable discussions returns to GDC 2014, and this year industry professionals Anne Toole and Celia Pearce will lead a session titled Women in Games Roundtable: Attracting and Hiring Women in Games. Pearce, an associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will join Writer's Guild nominee Toole in a lively talk about what's working -- and what isn't -- when it comes to attracting women to the games industry. Attendees can expect to learn best practices for sourcing, hiring and retaining female developers, so folks who are in a position to do so -- HR professionals, senior developers and the like -- will likely get the most benefit from the talk.

Sexism and the Game Industry

Williamette University student Jennifer Allaway and Necrosoft Games director Brandon Sheffield are coming to GDC 2014 to talk about the results of an extensive academic study into the evidence of gender problems and sexism in the game industry. The talk, titled simply Sexism and the Game Industry: An Empirical Study, is intended to abolish common misconceptions about gender discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Using hard data, Allaway and Sheffield hope to inform the development community about the gender problems that are extant in the game industry, in the hopes of providing relevant info that can help attendees go forth and create more gender-inclusive environments.

More essential GDC details

Earlier GDC 2014 announcements include a Zork postmortem from co-creator Dave Lebling, a presentation on setting up a games user research lab, and the return of the popular #1reasontobe panel. Developers on Robotron 2084, The Last Of Us, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf will also be giving talks. All of the announced talks are now available in the online GDC 2014 Session Scheduler, where you can begin to build your conference week and later export it to the up-to-the-minute GDC Mobile App, coming soon. GDC 2014 itself will take place March 17-21, 2014 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. You can register for the event by visiting the info page on the official GDC 2014 website. Early Bird pricing, with discounts of up to 30 percent, will remain in effect until January 31st at midnight EST. For more information on GDC 2014, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech