WP:clubhouse?: an exploration of Wikipedia's gender imbalance

  • Authors:

  • Shyong (Tony) K. Lam;Anuradha Uduwage;Zhenhua Dong;Shilad Sen;David R. Musicant;Loren Terveen;John Riedl

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota;University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota;Nankai University, Tianjin, China;Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota;Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota;University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota;University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration
  • Year:
  • 2011

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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.