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Wik i ped i aD i ve r s i t y

PROMOTING GENDER DIVERSITY IN WIKIPEDIA AS A BALANCING ACT

ILONA BUCHEM, Professor for DIGITAL MEDIA & DIVERSITY GENDER AND TECHNOLOGY CENTERBEUTH UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES BERLIN, GERMANY in cooperation with WIKIMEDIA DEUTSCHLAND e.V.

WIKIMANIA 2013 - THE INTERNATIONAL WIKIMANIA CONFERENCE, HONG KONG // 10.08.2013 // CC BY-SA1

1Saturday, August 10, 13

WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

2WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA

Diversity is:

• variety,• plurality,• multiplicity

But of what?


(SOME) DIVERSITY TYPES


Socio-demographic diversity> gender, age, citizenship ...

Role/Position-related diversity> editor, admin, steward ...

Epistemic diversity> topics, arguments, references ...

Cognitive-affective diversity> intelligence, reasoning, attitudes ...


A. WHY CHANGING ANYTHING?



WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA

Approx. 90% male users in the editor base:

SO WHAT???5


REASON #1

The editor base is declining ...

WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA6



“Post-2007, lots of people were still trying to become Wikipedia editors. What had changed, though, is that they were increasingly failing to integrate into the Wikipedia community, and failing increasingly quickly.”Sue Gardner http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/March_2011_Update

EDITOR RETENTION


http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/March_2011_Update


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Decline_Theories_And_Support.pdfWIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-SA

DECLINE THEORIES

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Decline_Theories_And_Support.pdf








The average contributor to Wikipedia is "a 26-year-old geeky male who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website."

Jimmy Wales


http://gajitz.com/intergalactic-love-story-stormtroopers-marriage-photos/

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“Twitter and Facebook have sucked up all the cognitive surplus younger internet users might have once devoted to building up Wikipedia and shattered it into a million fleeting hashtags.”

Gawker.com



WORKLOAD PROBLEM


“That's a problem for everyone, because it means that experienced editors are needing to shoulder an ever-increasing workload, and bureaucrat and administrator positions are growing ever-harder to fill.”

Sue Gardner, http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/March_2011_Update

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http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/08/wikipedia-needs-more-single-geeky-men/40841/


SOLUTION #1





SOLUTION #2


REASON #2

Perspective bias in articles ...



“The paucity of information available on Wikipedia about MacKinnon [feminist, lawyer] and Marshall [the first African-American Justice appointed to the Supreme Court, US] is merely reflective of the fact that Sideshow Bob [character in The Simpsons] is what interests the site’s 90% male contributors, not historical figures who are of significance to minorities. Also, the lack of information on Wikipedia about the two is not because there is a lack of information in general [...]. It just means that nobody cared that much to enrich the article.”

http://www.webpronews.com/wikipedia-editors-are-basically-all-dudes-should-that-matter-2012-04





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HISTORICAL FIGURES, SCIENTISTS, POLITICIANS



WOMEN BIOGRAPHIES

Note: Betweenness centrality quantifies the number of times a node acts as a bridge along the shortest path between two other nodes. // Centrality in graph theory // Wikipedia





CONTENT COVERAGE

http://mashable.com/2012/08/08/wikipedia-gender-graphic/

“Table 1 shows our results, which indicate that males and females arefocused on disparate content areas within Wikipedia. There is agreater concentration of females in the People and Arts areas, whilemales focus more on Geography and Science.” In: “WP: Clubhouse?”





MEANING NEGOTIATION

http://www.npr.org/2013/04/29/179850435/what-s-in-a-category-women-novelists-spark-wiki-controversy




REASON #3

The image of free & open ...



INTERNATIONAL PRESS


Wikisexism

Ghettoizing

Exclusion

EN

PL

DE

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DIVERSITY IN GERMAN WP

B. WHAT IS OUR PROJECT ABOUT?



• Gender & Technology Center @Beuth University, Berlin• In cooperation with Wikimedia Deutschland • One of 5 annual projects on “Enhancing knowledge

diversity in Wikipedia” run by Wikimedia Deutschland• Focus on gender diversity, later other diversity aspects• Aim: Diversity concept with guidelines & set of actions• Method: Open innovation approach & transdisciplinarity


WIKIPEDIA DIVERSITY (WiDi)


OPEN INNOVATION

23WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-NC-SA

Stage 1OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Stage 2SELECTED CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Stage 3CLOSED CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

CROWD CHALLENGES : IDEA CREATION : CROWDSOURCING

INVITED EXPERTS : GRAND CHALLENGES : FOCUSED ACTIONS

AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS : LEARNING RESOURCES : STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT


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skillsattitudes

....

regulationsstructures

...

Based on the diversity model by Koeppel (2012)


CAN

WANT

DIVERSITY TRIANGLE

MAY

motivationspreferences

....


GENDERDIVERSITY

welcome culture

WELCOME

role of gender diversity

QUALITY

gender imbalance

AWARENESS

gender & motivation

PARTICIPATION

supportive communication

RESPECT


aims & priorities

#1

#2

#3

#4

#525


I. AWARENESS


gender gap awareness

• diversity guide• diversity portal• diversity scouting

no awareness without information!

hidden good practice

have no idea

under-/overestimate

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EXAMPLE: INFOGRAPHICS

A draft of an banner for German WP (student project)



II. WELCOME


little recognitionpower battles

nitpicking

problems with an attitude

• newcomers• local heros• workshops• save spaces

no welcome without service!

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EXAMPLE: BREAK STEREOTYPES

A story board for a film for German WP (student project)



III. SUPPORTIVE


problems with communication

• declaration• learning resources• conflict mediation• reputation

no support without commitment!

no supportinsider jargon unfriendly tone

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EXAMPLE FEEDBACK TRAINER

An concept of a feedback trainer (student project)



IV. QUALITY


problems with systemic bias

• research • mapping effects• existing tools

no quality without understanding!

perspectivesmissing content

categorisations

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V. MOTIVATION


problems with participation

• reasons & drivers• building networks• editing events

no participation without support!

prefer other activities

have no time

enjoy social media

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EXAMPLE: WOMEN EDIT



DOING GENDER MATTERS

C. WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES?



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Bottom-upInclusiveSelf-policingAutonomy

ChangeFocus

Mediation Support

BALANCING GENDER




JOIN US!

Meet up // Saturday // 15:30 - 16:30Meet up // Sunday // 13:30 - 14:00

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http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Diversity_Conference


SAVE THE DATE

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ILONA [email protected]

CURATED RESOURCES ON GENDER-DIVERSITY:http://www.scoop.it/t/wikipedia-gender

39WIKIPEDIA-DIVERSITY, CC BY-NC-SA

GET IN TOUCH!


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.scoop.it/t/wikipedia-gender

http://www.scoop.it/t/wikipedia-gender

Mind Map

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Google Survey

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