WP:Clubhouse? An Exploration of Wikipedia’s Gender Imbalance

TitleWP:Clubhouse? An Exploration of Wikipedia’s Gender Imbalance
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsLam, Shyong K., Uduwage Anuradha, Dong Zhenhua, Sen Shilad, Musicant David R., Terveen Loren, and Riedl John
Conference NameWikiSym 2011
Conference LocationMountain View, CA
Conference Start Date10/2011
PublisherACM
Keywordscollaboration, content coverage, gender gap, Wikipedia
Abstract

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.

URLhttp://grouplens.org/system/files/wp-gender-wikisym2011.pdf