GroupLens Research

Wikipedia has rapidly become an invaluable destination for millions
of information-seeking users. However, media reports suggest
an important challenge: only a small fraction of Wikipedia’s
legion of volunteer editors are female. In the current work, we
present a scientific exploration of the gender imbalance in the English
Wikipedia’s population of editors. We look at the nature of
the imbalance itself, its effects on the quality of the encyclopedia,
and several conflict-related factors that may be contributing to the
gender gap. Our findings confirm the presence of a large gender
gap among editors and a corresponding gender-oriented disparity
in the content of Wikipedia’s articles. Further, we find evidence
hinting at a culture that may be resistant to female participation.