Wikipedia’s Gender Gap

This week’s Time magazine shed more light on the fact that women make up only 13 percent of Wikipedia contributors. Sue Gardener, Wikimedia Foundation’s E.D. noted:

The average Wikipedian is a young man in a wealthy country who is probably a graduate student — somebody who’s smart, literate, engaged in the world of ideas, thinking, learning and writing all the time.

It should go without saying that if women make up 51 percent of the
population, 13 percent representation at Wikipedia is a DISGRACE!

The graduate student reference also surprised me. It seems odd that women are drastically underrepresented at Wikipedia when women in graduate school outnumber men. This means that there is more to the story, possibly more issues — cough, sexism — which Wikipedia must investigate to figure out what gives when it comes to their lack of women contributors.

Our own commentators have testified to sketchy posts on violence against women and the overall frustration with the “Wikipedia Gods.” Wikipedia is increasingly becoming the go-to source for everyday information, and women of all status — and men for that matter — should have a space there. Wikipedia should step up to ensure that.

In the Time article, it seemed that affirmative action was the
unspoken answer to the gender gap. I, for one, don’t think affirmative
action is perfect. But where woman are concerned, it has had
significantly positive outcomes in various sectors. And the wheel
doesn’t have to be reinvented. The Wikipedia rep in this article came
off as unapologetic and without a concrete plan for diversifying, even
in the face of stunted growth.

But let’s be clear: along with the gender gap being a significant issue, it can’t be overemphasized that contributing to Wikipedia is also an issue of access, and I’m not only talking about a computer and an Internet connection. The Wiki legalese that can be a decisive barrier to getting a post up. Even with my policy background, to call the dispute resolution page overwhelming is an understatement. When I think of the demands of graduate school, plus the unique challenges that I face as a woman of color, becoming fluent in Wiki-speak so that I can post something up at Wikipedia is low on the priority list.

For many, however, the issue with cracking Wiki legalese probably isn’t just time, it’s literacy. I spent a great part of my summer creating sexual health handouts for parents and youth in a community-based organization in San Francisco. To account for the literacy disparities among parents, the organizational standard for readability of sexual health handouts — for both parents and youth — was set to the 5th grade reading level. While I realize that literacy is not as simple as grade-level equivalents, Wikipedia could do more to make their content for contributors and viewers more accessible.

Shame on Wikipedia for not even attempting to address these issues.

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