A Tongan academic is shedding light on Pacific girl gamers’ experiences in online spaces.
Dr Jean Uasike Allen, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, is leading a Marsden-funded project titled Virtual Voyagers: Amplifying Pacific Girl Gamer Voices. The three-year study aims to understand how online gaming impacts the well-being and relationships of Pacific girls aged 16 to 24 in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“I want to understand how online gaming contributes to the identities, relationships, and well-being through Pacific perspectives of Pacific girl gamers,” Dr Allen said.
Her recent scoping review, Online Gaming and Well-being Among Pacific Youth, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, highlights the lack of research on Pacific youth’s gaming experiences. Dr Allen emphasises the importance of incorporating Pacific worldviews, such as the concept of ‘digital vā’, which refers to maintaining relationships across space and time.
“It is really important to explore digital vā. I believe that research with Pacific communities should include Pacific worldviews and concepts as a means of making sense of our experiences,” she said.
Dr Allen, of Tongan and European heritage, hails from Makaunga and Kolovai in Tongatapu, and Tefisi in Vava’u. She hopes her research will inform future studies and policies that better support Pacific youth in digital spaces.
