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Where Are All the Women of Wikipedia?
http://jezebel.com/5945850/where-are-all-the-women-of-wikipedia
Studies have shown that the Wikipedia editor gender gap — women make up only 13 percent of the site's contributors, according to a 2011 New York Times survey, and even less according to the most recent Wikipedia Editor Survey —directly influences the lack of notable women with well-researched biographies (or often even any mention, well-researched or otherwise) on the site.
...
"The Wikipedia idea struck a real chord in me because I read about a year ago that the typical person who writes entries for Wikipedia is a man," Uta Frith, a professor in cognitive development at UCL and a fellow of the Royal Society, told the BBC. "That really started alarm bells ringing because we don't think about it -who is doing all this work?" she said, wondering why it was so hard for most people to come up with just a "handful" of names of important women in tech. "Is that because there aren't any or because they're sort of invisible?" she said. "It's a catch-22 - if you can't find them easily in a place like Wikipedia, you won't know anything about them. You'll think they are not important."
Some famous women slated to receive Wikipedia reinforcement include Ada Lovelace, who helped create the "analytical machine" that's considered to be a foundation for modern computers,Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, a crystallographer who discovered the chemical structure of oil component benzene, and Dr Elsie Widdowson, who helped introduce vitamin supplements to food during World War II rationing.
...
Studies have shown that the Wikipedia editor gender gap — women make up only 13 percent of the site's contributors, according to a 2011 New York Times survey, and even less according to the most recent Wikipedia Editor Survey —directly influences the lack of notable women with well-researched biographies (or often even any mention, well-researched or otherwise) on the site.
...
"The Wikipedia idea struck a real chord in me because I read about a year ago that the typical person who writes entries for Wikipedia is a man," Uta Frith, a professor in cognitive development at UCL and a fellow of the Royal Society, told the BBC. "That really started alarm bells ringing because we don't think about it -who is doing all this work?" she said, wondering why it was so hard for most people to come up with just a "handful" of names of important women in tech. "Is that because there aren't any or because they're sort of invisible?" she said. "It's a catch-22 - if you can't find them easily in a place like Wikipedia, you won't know anything about them. You'll think they are not important."
Some famous women slated to receive Wikipedia reinforcement include Ada Lovelace, who helped create the "analytical machine" that's considered to be a foundation for modern computers,Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, a crystallographer who discovered the chemical structure of oil component benzene, and Dr Elsie Widdowson, who helped introduce vitamin supplements to food during World War II rationing.
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I should learn to edit Wikipedia and join the effort to flesh out women's history there.
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Time for me to go on ahead with it already and get started. 
